Patent ID: 7712120

Claim:
A system comprising: at least one satellite receiver; a plurality of set-top boxes (STBs) including a first STB and a second STB; and a satellite transponder switch (STS) to serve the plurality of STBs in a home, the STS to maintain a table that maps each of the STBs to a corresponding one of a plurality of carrier frequencies wherein each one of the plurality of carrier frequencies is unique to a particular STB of the plurality of STBs, the STS to receive a first request from the first STB for a first transponder band and a second request from the second STB for a second transponder band, to access a first satellite feed and polarity from the at least one satellite receiver based on the first request and a second satellite feed and polarity from the at least one satellite receiver based on the second request, to band-pass filter the first transponder band from the first satellite feed and polarity and the second transponder band from the second satellite feed and polarity, to frequency shift the first transponder band to a first carrier frequency assigned to the first STB in the table and the second transponder band to a second carrier frequency assigned to the second STB in the table, and to output to the first STB and the second STB a signal that comprises the frequency-shifted first and second transponder bands wherein the frequency-shifted first and second transponder bands are separated by a separation band, and wherein the first carrier frequency of the signal is unique to the first STB and wherein the second carrier frequency of the signal is unique to the second STB, wherein the first STB upon power-up is to contact the STS on a control channel and thereafter the STS is to assign the first carrier frequency to the first STB.