Patent ID: 7675849

Claim:
A vehicle information system, comprising: a headend system for providing viewing content; and a distribution system, including: a plurality of communication connections including a first communication connection, a second communication connection, and a third communication connection each having a predetermined data width; a first area distribution box for receiving said viewing content from said headend system; and a first floor disconnect box, comprising: a plurality of communication ports, including a first communication port for receiving said viewing content from said first area distribution box via said first communication connection, a second communication port for communicating with a first daisy-chain configuration of seat electronics boxes via said second communication connection, and a third communication port for communicating with a second daisy-chain configuration of said seat electronics boxes via said third communication connections last seat electronics box of the first daisy-chain configuration and a last seat electronics box of the second daisy-chain configuration being coupled via a loopback connection; an active switching system for exchanging high-speed communication signals among said first, second, and third communication ports; a bypass system for bypassing said active switching system if said active switching system enters a failure mode by directly coupling at least two of said communication ports; and a power system for providing power to at least one floor disconnect box component, including said active switching system and said bypass system, said power system having a power conversion system for receiving power from at least one of said first area distribution box and said seat electronics boxes and for providing power to at least one of said first area distribution box and said seat electronics boxes, wherein the communication signals are exchanged among said headend system and said seat electronics boxes without a reduction in signal bandwidth when said active switching system is in a normal operation mode and with a reduced signal bandwidth if said active switching system enters said failure mode.