Patent ID: 6996232

Claim:
A splitter module for mounting in a Network Interface Device (NID) for providing a demarcation point between a pair of outside plant wires and a first and a second pair of inside wires, the first pair of inside wires for carrying a first signal, the second pair of inside wires for carrying a second signal and the pair of outside wires for carrying a combined signal of the first and the second signals, the NID having a housing defining an accessible interior and having a mounting surface therein defining a plurality of mounting locations, the splitter module comprising: (a) a block having a mounting footprint configured for removable attachment to at least one of the mounting locations; (b) an outside plant pair of terminals located on the block and configured for having the pair of outside plant wires connected thereto; (c) a splitter circuit housed in the block with a first pair of contacts electrically connected to the outside plant pair of terminals and a second pair of contacts, a first circuit component of the circuit electrically between the first and the second pair of contacts and designed to pass only the first signal from the first pair of contacts to the second pair of contacts; (d) a first jack located on the block and electrically connected to the second pair of contacts; (e) a first plug removably located in the first jack to provide a first demarcation point for the first signal; (f) a first inside pair of terminals located on the block, electrically connected to the second pair of contacts through the first demarcation point and configured for having the first pair of inside wires connected thereto; (g) a second inside pair of terminals located on the block, electrically connected to the outside plant pair of terminals so as to receive at least the second signal and configured for having the second pair of inside wires connected thereto; (h) a second jack located on the block and electrically connected in series between the outside plant pair of terminals and the second inside pair of terminals; and (i) a second plug removably located in the second jack to provide a second demarcation point for the second signal.