Patent ID: 8360810

Claim:
A device for coupling to a cable television (CATV) coaxial cable, the CATV coaxial cable being connected for carrying a CATV signal in a CATV signal frequency band, frequency multiplexed with a digital data signal in a digital data frequency band that is distinct from the CATV signal frequency band, the device comprising: a first coaxial connector for connecting to the CATV coaxial cable; a first filter coupled to said first coaxial connector for substantially passing only signals in the digital data frequency band; a coaxial cable modem coupled to said first filter for bidirectional digital data communication over the CATV coaxial cable; a multi-port unit including one of: a hub; a switch; a router; and a gateway, coupled to said coaxial cable modem; and a data transceiver coupled to said multi-port unit for data communication with the coaxial cable modem, and being operative to effect bi-directional digital data communication with a digital data unit; a data connector coupled to the data transceiver for connecting to the digital data unit; a power port connectable to receive a power signal from a power signal source; a power supply comprising an AC/DC converter or a DC/DC converter, coupled between said power port and said coaxial cable modem for DC powering said coaxial cable modem and said data transceiver by the power signal; first and second enclosures each containing power-consuming circuits connected to be powered from said power supply, wherein: said first coaxial connector, said coaxial cable modem, said first filter, said power port, said power supply, said data connector, said data transceiver and said multi-port unit are each housed in one of said enclosures; said first and second enclosures are removably and mechanically attached to each other and electrically connected to each other to enable power to be passed between them; and said device is addressable in a digital data network.