Patent ID: 7519297

Claim:
A head end system for receiving a data signal originating from a data loop including a transmitter and a receiver, said head end system comprising: (a) a radio-frequency circuit configured to: (i) receive the data signal from the transmitter, (ii) extract radio-frequency data from said data signal, (iii) output said extracted radio-frequency data, and (iv) transmit at least a portion of said data signal to an Ethernet circuit, said Ethernet circuit being external to the radio-frequency circuit; and (b) said Ethernet circuit being configured to: (i) receive said at least the portion of said data signal from said radio-frequency circuit, (ii) extract Ethernet data from said at least the portion of said data signal, (iii) output said extracted Ethernet data to one or more Ethernet data ports, (iv) input additional Ethernet data from said one or more Ethernet data ports, (v) incorporate said additional Ethernet data into said at least the portion of said data signal, and (vi) transmit said at least the portion of the data signal, with said additional Ethernet data incorporated therein, to the receiver; wherein said Ethernet circuit and said radio-frequency circuit each include a controller logic, said controller logic comprising a first section configured to control a plurality of operations related to said Ethernet data, a second section configured to control a plurality of operations related to said radio-frequency data, and a third section configured to control a plurality of operations related to both said Ethernet data and said radio-frequency data, wherein said first section is not enabled in said radio-frequency circuit and said second section is not enabled in said Ethernet circuit.