CAPACITY SCALING AND REDISTRIBUTION OF FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS WITHIN A COAXIAL CABLE INTERNET ACCESS SYSTEM IN A BUILDING
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The demand for high-speed Internet access (HSIA) is driving the telecommunications industry as few forces have done in the past. Although the cable and telephone industry establish the position of their networks for the future, the ever-changing technology has previously made it costly and risky to invest in new supply systems. Most current approaches to providing Internet services in MDUs ("multiple residence units") use telephone wiring in "data above voice" settings. Such approaches usually require a selective identification and disconnection of each pair of telephones and the insertion of a m dem function into the central end of the telephone loop. That intrusive installation is expensive and time consuming. A second modem is required at the user end of the telephone pair to connect to the PC ("personal computer") or home network. Since the telephone wiring of the MDU generally has a crosstalk performance between a torque worse than that of the REF: 144928 external wiring and suffers from interference by considerable electrical input, it is uncommon to insert the data into the telephone loop inside the building to ensure an adequate performance. The high frequency loss of longer telephone loops between the central office and the DU considerably limits the two-way transmission speed potential for longer telephone loops. The use of low-cost wireless data transmission works well where distances are short and the spectrum is abundant. However, for densely populated MDUs, this is usually not the case. THE CURRENT CABLE ENVIRONMENT The cable modem Internet service has now penetrated well into a million residences and has become extremely common due to its exceptional speed. However, the introduction of cable modem service in MDUs is problematic due to the complex and irregular topology of the television coaxial cabling and to the limited available upstream bandwidth being shared. In addition, the interference points for entry into the coaxial distribution of MDU and domestic wiring are very difficult to locate and particularly difficult to isolate. This revenue interference can cause two-way service failure to all users in an MDU and potentially to other users upstream of the MDU in the hybrid fiber coaxial network (HFC). Both the cable modem and the telephone loop data modems are usually interfaced with the PC using a base 10 E-ethernet T connection. This requires that a network interface card (NIC) be installed on each PC and that each PC network software be configured. Since average PC users usually do not have the technical expertise, this installation and / or configuration is often performed by the telephone or cable network provider. In this way, the network provider becomes potentially responsible for problems on the PC, often when the problem is not related to the work of the network provider. Although this issue can be solved in some cases using USB ports ("standard universal serial bus"), a large proportion of PCs are not equipped with them. In hotel / motel situations, users usually do not need to be networked with each other and are seldom adept or willing to reconfigure their PCs each time they rent a room or return to their home or office. Coaxial distribution systems such as those found in MDUs, hotels, hospitals and university campus facilities, which can receive service from cable network operators, satellite or radio communications, by. the regular are configured as passive "tree and branch" systems that use bifurcators and / or long coaxial paths with shunts or couplers arranged to service the apartments or rooms. Such passive distribution arrangements frequently service 30 to 100 rooms or apartments and are arranged in such a way that the television signal levels fed to each apartment or hotel room are typically within a range of 10 dB. These coaxial distribution systems typically have losses in the range of 15 dB to 45 dB (at typical TV service frequencies in MDUs) and are regularly fed from a broadband broadband television amplifier in a centralized sense to ensure high levels of power. signal suitable for users. The larger high rise MDUs and hotels generally have a number of centralized amplifiers that each feed a passive coaxial distribution subsystem that serves separate areas or floors of the building. THE OPPORTUNITY The spectrum used for television services in MDU is usually below 750 MHz, while the components used in the distribution of these services, such as axial cable, can handle frequencies beyond 1 GHz. Passive bifurcators and couplers (collectively called "junction devices"), although regularly considered only for use in television bands, usually function adequately in terms of port loss and / or isolation when they carry signals more robust digitals up to 1 GHz. When operating at these frequencies, the loss per unit length of the coaxial cabling of buildings, instead of being a problem, helps to attenuate echoes allowing the use of a much simpler equalization in digital receivers. In addition, the input interference is much lower at frequencies above those of television channels, and is contained by the one-way characteristic of the central television channel amplifiers - at least at the channel frequencies downstream of television and larger, it prevents any input interference from leaving MDU and interfering with the HFC cable network. Based on this evidence, there is clearly an opportunity to use the higher frequency spectrum of a building distribution system for coaxial cable based services, those HSIA services use solid digital modulation techniques. The spectrum available above the television channels in coaxial cable in buildings can be arbitrarily divided up to offer high speed data in both directions. Due to the relatively high field strength radiation of portable cellular phones, it is prudent to operate at frequencies of 900 MHz and above, although this is not a requirement. The use of splitters and couplers currently installed, is also better to maintain frequencies of HFC 1 GHz and below it. These 100 MHz available spectrum available is sufficient to serve the needs of Internet access in two statistical ways from 50 to 100 users or client modems. If greater capacity is needed, the additional downstream spectra can be placed in bands between 1 GHz and approximately 1.6 GHz provided that the specified higher frequency bifurcators are replaced.; it can also be obtained by moving down in the frequency spectrum. This greater unidirectional capacity can provide additional digital video on demand (VOD) services, either in Internet protocol (IP) format or in natural MPEG2 format. The frequencies within the 850 MHz to 850 MHz range are useful in most preferred embodiments for upstream transmission. The use of this individual upstream spectrum provides adequate traffic capacity and simplifies control. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION This description is based on the teachings of the '378 and 1836 previously differentiated applications that take advantage of the technology and performance of an integrated coaxial distribution to provide HSIA services. More specifically, this description helps previous descriptions by identifying a number of Internet access configurations by shared coaxial distribution to promote scaling of economic capacity and topological redistribution of functions intended to extend the breadth of application and economic deployment of services. Internet access and other data / telephony and video services within hotels, multiple condo environments / multiple apartments. An object of the present invention is to distribute data to a series of local modems at the distal end of a multi-point network, such as a coaxial cable television distribution network of tree and branch type to allow two-way communication between devices connected to local modems and a series of one or more central modems while using the components of the existing distribution network used for the distribution of cable television signals. A further object of this invention provides options for efficient capacity scaling to compensate for increases in one or more types of data over the multi-point network. A further object of this invention is to provide options for moving one or more building functions with the distribution network to the front end of the cable in order to reduce costs and maintenance trips to the individual building. These and other advantages of the present invention are apparent from the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is provided for reference purposes and illustrates the basic system as described in the patent application of E.U.A. copendiente with series No. 09 / 818,378 for Architecture and Method for Automatic Distributed Gain Control for Modem Communications. Figure 2 is a simplified version of a portion of Figure 1 whose functional trace elements are reused within Figures 3 to 12. Figure 3 shows how the concentrator 328 can be connected through a 506 splitter to three separate diplexers. (316, 317 and 318). The diplexers combine the output of the concentrator 328 and the output of the television channel amplifier 312 to provide Internet service from the individual concentrator 328 and CATV service from the amplifier 312 to a separate passive coaxial distribution number (320, 321, and 322). Figure 4 shows a very high capacity configuration in which the Internet transmission service is produced by three pairs of cable modems and hubs (324/328, 325/329, and 32S / 330) by the 508 splitter. therefore, each of these three small distribution networks (320, 321, and 322) has its own modera and cable concentrator (324/328, 325/329, and 326/330). Fig. 5 shows a configuration in which the combination of functions performed by the hub 528 (Figs. 1-4) can be divided through a central server 512 and multiple server modems (520, 524, and 528) by the use of a router or switch 516 that connects the server centers to the server modems. Figure 6 uses a configuration similar to that of Figure 5 but has independent sources for television transmission services on the Internet. Instead of having a source that provides both as shown by cable 304 in Figures 1-5, Figure 6 receives the television signal from the source 532 and connects to the Internet via the fiber interface 536. Figure 7 uses a configuration similar to Figure 5 but has independent sources for Internet television transmission instead having a source that provides both as shown by the cable 304 in Figures 1-5, Figure 7 receives the television signal from the source 532 and connects to the Internet via the wireless interface 540.
Figure 8 illustrates a previous cable end that contains a coaXmedia server that has been migrated from a small hotel or a small MDU system in order to reduce costs and maintenance trips. Figure 9 shows a serverless configuration that can be used in conjunction with the front end shown in Figure 8. Figure 9 uses a splitter 506 as shown in Figure 3 in order to use an individual central modem 520 to service several sparsely loaded networks (320, 321, and 322). Figure 10 illustrates an alternative configuration for use with a leading end of cable as shown in Figure 8, using a router or switch to connect the Internet transmission to several central modems. Figure 11 illustrates that multiple cable modems (324, 325, and 326) can be used to increase the transmission capacity. Figure 12 illustrates that transmission can be achieved by a combination of cable modem 324, fiber interface 536 and wireless interface 540. Figure 12 also illustrates that the system can be appended to a local area network 568.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DESCRIBED MODALITY Architecture Figure 1 illustrates the general architecture. Figure 1 can be subdivided into four groupings of components. The first grouping is cable television (CATV) header equipment 100. The second grouping is the hybrid fiber coaxial distribution network (HFG) 200. The third grouping is the coaxial distribution equipment of premises 300 that could exist either in an MDU or an analogous situation such as a hotel. The final grouping is the group of equipment in the room of the user 400. The groups 300 and 400 contain elements of the present invention. In accordance with industry conventions, the cable television header and the Internet are the upstream end of Figure 1 for the cable television data - and IP respectively. The television or computer in the user's room are points downstream. Upstream data transmissions travel upstream to the upstream end. The downstream transmissions travel downstream to the downstream end. Therefore, a component in a data path receives a downstream data transmission from its upstream end and an upstream data transmission from its downstream end.
The content of the individual groupings is described below. In cluster 100, a cable television signal is provided to the HFC 200 distribution network via connection 104. The source of the cable television signal may be conventional equipment represented by cable television service elements 108 connected to one end of the connecting device 106. The digital communication signals of the Internet 504 travel through the Internet connector cable 112 to the router 116 that is in communication with the Internet service management 120. The digital communication signals pass through. through the cable modem termination system 124 and attachment device 106 when moving downstream from the router 116 to the connection 104 to the HFC distribution network 200. The description of elements selected from the cable television header is provide context for the present invention and does not constitute a limitation or elements required for the. present invention. In cluster 300, the input signal from the HFC distribution network 200 is carried on the cable 304 to a joining device 308. The connecting device 308 is connected to the input of the television channel amplifier 312. The The output of the television channel amplifier 312 passes to a second joining device 316 afterwards to a set of one or more connecting devices forming the tree and branch type distribution network 320 terminating in a series of television coaxial receptacles 404. Note that the distribution networks must be taken in the selection of diplexers so that the range of operation of the diplexer includes the relevant range by above the frequencies normally used for cable television channels. The technology for tree and branch type networks suitable for distributing cable television signals is well known to the experts in. The technique. In this way, in order to avoid unnecessary grouping, the tree and branch type network 320 is shown with only a few connecting devices and connection cables instead of the complete series of components for a tree and branch type network. In a typical application, the tree and branch network 320 would be connected to 50 or more coaxial receptacles 404. The junction device 308 and the diplexer 316 form a parallel path around the television channel amplifier 312. This parallel path has a modem cable 324 at the upstream end and data concentrator 328 ("hub") at the downstream end of the bypass loop. Therefore, the use of the bifurcator and combiner allows the signal to go to the television channel amplifier 312, and to the cable modem 324. 316 is used to combine the amplified CATV signal and the data signal to pass them together to the distribution network. As described in the aforementioned ¾836 application and in the following text, the data concentrator 328 performs several functions for the various modems cited 408. Several important functions of the hub are represented in Figure 1 as a network interface card ("NIC"). ") 340, protocol converter 336 and RF modem 332. The 328 concentrator handles the buffer for upstream communications and downstream communications, and handles the various client modems so that there is no bus contention in the upstream channel Within the array 400, a client modem 408 is connected to a diplexer 406. A diplexer 406 is connected to the coaxial socket 404. A conventional telvision coaxial cable 412 is connected to a television set 416 to the through port under the diplexer 406. A client modem 408 is connected to a high pass port in the diplexer 406. In subsequent figures, the client modem 4 08 is shown as a dollar of sand in deference to the name that the applicant gave to this device. The user can connect a downstream device 420 to the data cord 424 of the client modem 408 with the appropriate port connector to connect to the downstream device of the user 420 such as a personal computer ("PC") as shown in the figure 1. Although it is likely that the downstream device 420 is a personal desktop computer or a laptop-type laptop, it could be some other device capable of interfacing with an external source of digital data. An example of this type is the range of devices known as PDAs ("personal digital assistants"). Therefore, the present invention allows communications between the downstream device 420 and the Internet 504 through the substantial use of existing infrastructure used to supply cable television signals to the user's television set 416. In this arrangement, a single out-of-board cable modem subordinate to DOCSIS 324 is used to service the statistical data needs of multiple users connected through a coaxial distribution system within buildings. A very simple modem interface is used in the terminals of the user or clients of the system to connect by interface to the user's computer 420 through its existing serial, parallel USB port. In this way, no NIC or network card configuration is required on the users' PC. The point-to-point protocol (PPP) is carried in RF channels over the coaxial distribution within buildings 320 to a central RF modem 332 within the hub. Note that PPP is the current preferred mode but other protocols could be used instead of PPP. A protocol converter 336 is provided between this central RF modem 332 and the cable modem subordinate to DOCSIS 324. This protocol converter 336 translates the data format between the point-to-point protocol (or some other protocol) used by the protocol. PC and the IP used by the Ethernet port of the DOCSIS cable modem. In this way, any IP protocol, such as TCP / IP, UDP / IP, etc. is transparently brought to and from the Internet level 504. Special prioritization is available for low latency requirement traffic, such as IP or multimedia voice, in both directions of transmission. The 336 protocol converter also acts as a Proxy server (if required) in order to .connect the many client modems and their PCs to one or a few cable modems subordinate to DOCSIS (to avoid clustering, Figure 1 shows a only cable modem). This involves providing IP addresses to the PCs in response to PPP connection requirements. The protocol converter 336 translates addresses of individual or multiple receptacles that uniquely identify multiple sessions or multiple windows that run inside each PC, in order to present unique receptacle addresses to the servers that exist in the IP 504 network. it is desired, the many PCs, of the client are made to appear, from a header service management perspective, as if they were connected by means of individual cable modems. Therefore, a function is provided in the header that collects PC MAC information from the user and IP address assigned from the protocol converter and presents it as an interface to the Internet header service management 120 that also handles modem services of single user cable. RF transmission One mode uses binary phase shift key modulation of 15 Msymbols / sec ("BPSK") or quadrature phase shift keys ("QPSK") in a single "downstream" channel with a center frequency approximately 970 MHz. Higher symbol rates are planned which could offer at least 30 Mb / s of data capacity downstream in the network. Current modes use center frequency from 980 MHz to 985 MHz. The specific center frequency is not critical as long as it is in the frequency band exposed in this description and is not subject to interference from other sources. The downstream signal is transmitted continuously and formatted in a standard MPEG2 / DVB structure. The MPEG2 frames comprise one frame byte (47 hex) / superframe (47 inverted hex), 187 bytes of information and 16 bytes of direct error correction (FEC) - a total of 204 bytes. Some reserved MPEG2"packet identification (PID)" codes are used to indicate that the next bytes of information are data of a particular type and not of digital video frames or oscillatory frames. Conventional synchronized mixing is used for spectral reasons and the 16 byte FEC field is always used or reserved for error correction. These structures facilitate the use of standard off-the-shelf television device technologies in the industry in both data and digital television applications. Frame interleaving, although available, is not used in passive coaxial distribution within buildings as this would delay traffic sensitive to latency and is not necessary for error protection purposes. In one embodiment, the upstream transmission in the coaxial network within buildings uses a 915 MHz RF signal modulated with BPSK carrying a digital current of 15 Mb / s. Upstream transmission is only allowed from a client modem at a time as specified by the downstream "poll" contained in the downstream data control envelope. In this way, there is no signal collision upstream. The upstream signal comprises a preamble signal that is increased in level followed by a synchronous bit. A mixed client modem source directs a length field and then the data follows this preamble. The length of the data field depends on how much is required by the central modem or the remaining amount of upstream data buffered in the client modem. Same as in the downstream direction, a special provision of low latency traffic needs is made. Coaxial path loss compensation The path loss between each client modem 408 and the central RF modem 332 will vary widely due to variations in coaxial distribution topology and load. The system is designed to accept losses of 40 dB or more. Variations of loss in the downstream direction are compensated for by an automatic gain control function ("AGC") contained in each customer modem receiver. The upstream AGC method involves adjusting each of the client modem transmitters in such a way that their signals, upon reaching the upstream receiver in the central modem, are approximately equal. Each time a data burst is sent to a client modem 408, an extra bit is included that indicates whether the burst previously transmitted from the client modem was above or below the ideal level required in the receiver within the modem of the client modem. Central RF 332. This bit is used by the client modem 408 to slightly adjust, either in ascending or descending, the level of its next transmitted burst. Therefore, all signals received by the central RF modem 332 from all client modems are aligned at the level and up and down cycle by a small amount. This is an ideal situation since the upstream BPSK receiver has a wider acceptable input signal range than the small level variations received. Control systems of this type react rapidly to changes in transmission path attenuation and are intrinsically stable. Technologies One embodiment of the present invention uses commercial, low cost, RF and digital technologies available. Alternative modes include a 'client modem receiver' that uses tuner / demodulator integrated circuits commonly used in satellite decoders. An alternative mode requires moving most of its functions to a pair of custom microcircuits;
one is a small analog RF microcircuit and the other is a semi-personalized microcircuit containing the digital functions. This technology evolution will result in a customer modem the size of a small cell phone that will be part of a coaxial cable assembly and will consume very little power. The 328 concentrator is currently constructed by the use of a low cost PC mother board (or base plate), without a shelf mounted normally disk equipped with an RF card / protocol 336 and one or more base T NIC interfaces 10, 340. These can be mounted, along with one or more out-of-rack cable modems 324, on a wall adjacent to the existing building television distribution amplifier 312. Those skilled in the art recognize that there is a variety of choices of Server platforms, which can be configured with or without disks. Installation As illustrated in Figure 1, the central installation requires only the addition of two coaxial connecting devices 308 and 312 to which a conventional cable modem 324 and the 328 concentrator are fixed. The client modems are simply introduced, the end user, between the television coaxial receiver 404 and the television set 416 (if there is one). An associated transformer cube (not shown in Figure 1) is then connected to a convenient power receptacle and the data cord 424 connected to the user's PC. No network configuration of the PC is required, thus offering a high-speed real-time connection and playback Internet access service. Summary of Basic Configuration The system presents a new economic approach for high-speed Internet access in MDU or a hotel that works well in an existing coaxial network in buildings. This system is subordinated to DOCSIS as seen from the header network elements, consistent with the operation of the existing cable modem and service practices and yet offers fixation of type connection and reproduction by the end user without having to reconfigure the PC or install an Ethernet NIC card on the users PC. The installation of common per-MDU equipment is extremely simple and there is no need for transportation or an appointment to provide service to each client. In fact, client modems can be used and these are easier to connect than a VCR. The approach isolates the internal MDU ingress interface from the main HFC network and provides improved bandwidth management and efficiency, particularly in the upstream or backward direction.
Internet access of multimegabits is achieved through the existing parallel or USB port of the PC using a simple "enabler" that places a connection icon on your computer and activates the direct connection installation of the PC's existing PPP. The "enabler" can be loaded from the 328 concentrator through the PC's existing serial connector - without floppy disks or CDs. - Alternative Configurations In order to highlight the differences between the base configuration described above and a variety of alternative configurations, Figure 2 is a simplified version of the relevant portion of Figure 1. Note that the multiple levels of bifurcators found in the tree-type network and branches 320 are simply shown as a single element with 50 terminal branches. In Figure 2, the coaxial distribution network 320 is shown with branches 1, 2, 3, 48, 49 and 50 marked. Subsequent illustrations of coaxial distribution networks simply show lines representing the multitude of terminal branches. The specific number 50 is provided simply to illustrate the environment and does not form a limitation of the present invention. Figure 3 shows how the concentrator 328 can be connected through a bifurcation 506 to three separate diplexers (316, 317 and 318). The -diplexers connect the concentrator 328 and the output of the channel amplifier 312 to provide Internet service from the individual concentrator 328 to a number of separate passive coaxial distribution networks (320, 321 and 322). This provision provides a very economical distribution to a large number of rooms or housing units when the subscription percentage is low or where the service capacity per user is handled at a lower data rate - with a potentially lower rate. Note that the use of three diplexers and three passive partial distribution networks is for illustration purposes. This arrangement would work with two or more diplexers / distribution networks as long as the aggregate use of the 328 concentrator was within the engineering limits of the concentrator and an acceptable quality of service for the end users. Note further that the invention is not based on the use of a single television channel amplifier 312. The amplification could be done by a series of amplifiers or by a series of separate amplifiers in such a way that not all the diplexers receive a signal of amplified television from the same television channel amplifier. Figure 4 shows a very high capacity configuration in which incoming Ethernet signal transmission is distributed to three pairs of cable modems and hubs (323/328, 325/329 and 326/330) by the 508 splitter. this way, each of the three small networks (320, 321 and 322) has its own cable modem and hub (324/328, 325/329 and 326/330). Figure 4 could be appropriate for a relatively high usage speed such as 20 users per 50-port network. Note that the invention is not limited to configurations with only three pairs of cable modems and hubs. There could be any number of two or more. The configuration of figure 4 could be combined with the configuration of figure 3 to allow the low use / low quality of the service networks to share one concentrator while another high use / high quality of service networks operate with a separate pair of modem / concentrator. Figure 5 shows a configuration in which the combination of functions performed by the concentrator 328 (Figures 1-4) can be divided through a central server 512 and multiple server modems (520, 524 and 528) through the use of a router 516 that connects to the central server with the server modems. In a preferred embodiment, the assignment of functions is as follows. Central server 512 performs the conversion of Ethernet to PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE), when required, and other local value-added functions. The individual server modems (520, 524 and 528) perform the tasks associated with polling the client modems and buffering the data in addition to the modulation and demodulation tasks. One piece of equipment acceptable for use as the router 516 is a Linksys router model BEFSR41 (manufactured by Linksys of Irvine, CA 92614). Those skilled in the art can substitute other routers or other suitable switches. The configuration in Figure 5 offers an economical approach and allows, for example, local communications between users receiving service from separate passive coaxial distribution systems. Although the system illustrated in Fig. 3 intrinsically provides local communications between passive coaxial distribution networks, the system illustrated in Fig. 5 offers a much greater capacity for local communications. Figure 6 uses a configuration similar to Figure 5 but has independent sources for television and Internet transmissions. Instead of having a source that provides both as shown by the cable 304 in Figures 1-5, Figure 6 receives the television signal from the source 532 and connects to the Internet through the fiber interface 536. The Figure 7 uses a configuration similar to Figure 5 but has a television and Internet separation source. Instead of having a source that provides both as shown by cable 304 in Figures 1-5, Figure 7 receives the television signal from the source 532 and connects to the Internet through the wireless interface 540. Figure 8 illustrates a previous end of the cable connecting to a central server 512 that has been migrated from a small system. of hotel or MDU in order to reduce costs and maintenance trips. This has particular value in garden-home MDU environments where each building has perhaps only 8 or so similar housing units. It should be noted that the protocol carried by the cable modem (or other means) can be PPP over Ethernet or Ethernet. This PPPoE protocol is a public standard. More specifically, Figure 8 shows a fiber-coaxial hybrid CATV network 200 connected to a coupler 544. A coupler port 544 is connected to a television channel modulator bank 548 that is connected to an antenna 552. Another port in the coupler 544 is connected to a cable modem termination system (CMTS) 124. The CMTS 124 is connected to a router 116 that is connected to the Internet 504. A second parallel path between the CMTS 124 and the router 116 runs through the network. 512 central server that performs conversions between Ethernet and PPP over Ethernet and other value-added functions. The description of elements selected from the previous end of CATV is to provide context for the present invention and does not constitute a limitation or elements required for the present invention, but rather provides context for the placement of the central server at the front end of CATV. Figure 9 shows a serverless configuration that can be used in conjunction with the front end shown in Figure 8. Figure 9 uses a fork 506 as shown in Figure 3 to use a single core server 520 to service multiple networks scarcely loaded (320, 321 and 322). Figure 10 illustrates an alternate configuration for use with a cable leading end such as that shown in Figure 8. Figure 10 can be modified to include a local MPEG-2 video server (not shown) whose transit can be interspersed with the Internet data. This application justifies the very high local capacity in a situation where the access return is of limited capacity, such as that provided by a single cable modem. Figure 11 illustrates that cable modems can be used to increase return capacity. Unlike Figure 4, a bank of aggregation routers 560 and 564 are routed between the series of cable modems (324, 325, and 326) and the series of central modems 520, 524, and 528). Depending on the type of router used, each user transit can be added through multiple cable modems or, alternatively, groups of users can be assigned to particular modems - either automatically according to the use or under the control of a traffic management. Note that the ratio of cable modems to central modems does not need to be one-to-one under this configuration. Figure 12 illustrates that transmission can be achieved by a combination of: a cable modem 324, a fiber interface 536 and a wireless interface 540. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other interfaces may be used within the scope of this invention. . For example, the cable modem could be replaced by one or more xDSL modems. Figure 12 also illustrates that the system can be set to a local area network 568. An example of this configuration could be that of an application in university dormitories where users require access to their laboratory / university office network and access to Internet for web search, entertainment services on the network or perhaps video teleconferencing services. Concluding Observations Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and apparatus of the present invention have many applications and that the present invention is not limited to the specific examples given to promote the understanding of the present invention. further, the scope of the present invention covers the range of variations, modifications and substitutes for the components of the system described herein, as will be known to one skilled in the art. For example, an alternative mode of the described topologies may use Ethernet or another application protocol to communicate with the user's computer 420. PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) is the current preferred protocol but this will vary over time as the functionality present in laptop computers evolve. Therefore, for example, element 512 in Figure 5 might not perform an Ethernet to PPPoE conversion but would perform local value-added functions. The figures described above are designed to illustrate at a high level the functional elements in the system traces. The drawings are not intended to show what components exist in separate boxes and which are combined in a common box. For example, Figure 5 shows elements 512, 516, 520, 524 and 528 as separate elements. These elements can be part of a common box with existing elements such as cards in the box. The invention was described in the context of one or more passive distribution networks. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention can be applied to a network with certain active devices by diverting the active devices in a matter analogous to that made to effectively address the data transmissions around the television channel amplifier 312. The limitations of the scope of the claimed invention are set forth in the following claims and are extended to cover their legal equivalents. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention is the conventional one for the manufacture of the objects or products to which it refers.