Patent ID: 7742777

Claim:
An apparatus for reducing the presence of ingress noise from a communications gateway, including an embedded cable modem, at a subscriber location, said communications gateway comprising an RF module containing separate upstream and downstream signal paths, the apparatus comprising: a variable attenuation element disposed in the upstream signal path in the RF module; a signal processor configured to calculate the value of upstream loss as used in attenuation during operation, said signal processor is further configured to control the operation of said variable attenuation element during operation so as to reduce the presence of ingress noise in the upstream signal path based on the value of the upstream loss, a signal amplifier, exhibiting predetermined gain, disposed in said upstream signal path in said RF module; and a bypass switch disposed at the input of said signal amplifier, said bypass switch for controlling the presence of said signal amplifier in said upstream signal path such that when said bypass switch is in the “open” position said signal amplifier is removed from said upstream signal path and when said bypass switch is in the “closed” position said signal amplifier is inserted in said upstream signal path, wherein the signal processor controls the attenuation level of said variable attenuation element such that when the calculated upstream loss is positive the attenuation is set to be essentially equal to said calculated upstream loss, and the signal processor is configured to close said bypass switch and activate said signal amplifier to further reduce the presence of ingress noise in the upstream signal path.