Patent ID: 7756060

Claim:
An end-user communication device, the device comprising: a first remote unit for communicating with a host unit using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), the host unit communicatively coupled to a plurality of remote units in a multipoint-to-point configuration, wherein OFDM waveform from distinct remote units of the plurality of remote units combine to a unified OFDM waveform at the host unit; wherein the first remote unit is configured to transmit up to a plurality of tones, the up to a plurality of tones modulated with upstream information using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing; wherein the first remote unit is configured to determine when bandwidth is needed for upstream transmission to the host unit; and wherein the first remote unit is configured to transmit a request for bandwidth to the host unit on at least one tone of the plurality of tones, wherein access to the at least one tone is contention-based.