Patent ID: 8213993

Claim:
A cable strand mounted radio system, the system comprising: a cable modem for communicating over a cable strand and configured to use the cable strand for backhaul capability; a coupler/splitter in communication with the cable modem and for coupling to the cable strand to provide backhaul access for the cable modem and for extracting electrical power from the cable strand; a monitoring and control module in communication with the cable modem, the monitoring and control module comprising environmental sensing and control elements; a radio transceiver in communication with the cable modem and in communication with the monitoring and control module; one or more antennas in communication with the transceiver for transmission and for reception of radio signals; and a power supply unit connected to the coupler/splitter and for receiving electrical power from the cable strand, the power supply configured to convert the electrical power from the cable strand and supply the converted power to the cable modem, the monitoring and control module and the radio transceiver.