Patent ID: 8717870

Claim:
Apparatus for signal modulation for transmission on a CATV (cable television) cable comprising: a plurality of ports for receiving input data; each port having associated therewith a respective one of a plurality of processing blocks each acting as a signal generator and each arranged for generating, from the digital input data, digital or analog CATV channels to be transmitted on the CATV cable to recipients; each generator being associated with a respective one of a plurality of upconversion paths, where each upconversion path includes an output for transmission on the cable; and a data bus arranged to receive the digital signals generated by the processing blocks for connecting available output data between the processing blocks; such that a distribution of channels is performed in the digital domain of the upconversion paths on the digital signals from the processor blocks; and such that digital data from a processing block across the data bus is combined with internal CATV channel signals of another processing block before being output to the upconversion path; and wherein routing of data across the data bus occurs after the majority of signal processing of the formation of individual or groups of CATV channels across a certain bandwidth in the processing blocks has been accomplished.