Importance

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Abstract

An analog multiplexer front end circuit for a Cable Modem Termination System receiver to utilize one or a handful of CMTS receiver chips to receive and recover data from a larger number of input cables coupled to the analog multiplexer. A control circuit for the multiplexer uses MAP data and upstream mini-slot counts for each of the input cables to determine when a burst is about to arrive on an cable. In some embodiments, there is only one RF channel circuit coupled to the output of the multiplexer, so the multiplexer is controlled to couple the input cable upon which the burst is expected to the single RF channel. In other embodiments, there are multiple RF channels so the multiplexer is controlled to connect each input cable on which a burst is expected to an available W channel. In some embodiments, the sample data generated by each RF channel is buffered and an arbiter picks one burst at a time for application to the input of a CMTS receiver. In other embodiments, no buffers or arbiter are used, and each RF channel has its own dedicated CMTS receiver.

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First Claim