Systems and methods to transmit information among a plurality of physical upstream channels
View Patent ↗A communication system includes a supervisory node (e.g., a headend) and one or more remote nodes (e.g., cable modems). The supervisory node or a remote node monitors a characteristic associated with the communication system. Remote node transmits an upstream communication among a plurality of physical upstream channels based on the characteristic. The average transmit power used to transmit the upstream communication among the plurality of physical upstream channels is no greater than the average transmit power that would be necessary to transmit the upstream communication using a single physical upstream channel at a lower data rate.
1. A communication device comprising:
a communication interface; and
a processor, the processor and the communication interface configured to:
receive a first signal transmitted from first other communication device via first communication pathway;
receive a second signal transmitted from second other communication device via second communication pathway that has higher insertion loss than the first communication pathway;
assign first one or more channels and first communication profile to the first other communication device for first subsequent communication from the first other communication device based on analysis of first signal, wherein the first communication profile specifies first bits per symbol per channel; and
assign second one or more channels and second communication profile to the second other communication device for second subsequent communication from the second other communication device based on analysis of second signal, wherein the second communication profile specifies second bits per symbol per channel that is less than the first bits per symbol per channel, and wherein the second one or more channels includes at least one more channel than the first one or more channels.
2. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using a total power; and
the second communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using the total power.
3. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using first total power; and
the second communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using second total power that is less than the first total power.
4. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using first power per channel; and
the second communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using second power per channel that is less than the first power per channel.
5. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using first total number of bits per second; and
the second communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using second total number of bits per second that is more than the first total number of bits per second.
6. The communication device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using a total number of bits per second; and
the second communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using the total number of bits per second.
7. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising:
a cable headend transmitter or a cable modem termination system (CMTS), wherein the first other communication device is first cable modem, and the second other communication device is second cable modem.
8. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising:
a communication device that is operative within a cable communication system that includes at least one of a cable modem, a cable modem termination system (CMTS), or a cable headend.
9. A communication device comprising:
a communication interface; and
a processor, the processor and the communication interface configured to:
support first communication with first other communication device using first communication profile and via a first communication pathway;
support second communication with second other communication device using second communication profile and via a second communication pathway;
process the first communication and the second communication to determine whether the first communication pathway has higher insertion loss than the second communication pathway;
when the second communication pathway is determined to have higher insertion loss than the first communication pathway:
assign first one or more channels and third communication profile to the first other communication device for first subsequent communication with the first other communication device, wherein the third communication profile specifies first bits per symbol per channel; and
assign second one or more channels and fourth communication profile to the second other communication device for second subsequent communication with the second other communication device, wherein the fourth communication profile specifies second bits per symbol per channel that is less than the first bits per symbol per channel, and wherein the second one or more channels includes at least one more channel than the first one or more channels; and
when the second communication pathway is not determined to have higher insertion loss than the first communication pathway:
assign the first one or more channels and the third communication profile to the second other communication device for the first subsequent communication with the second other communication device; and
assign the second one or more channels and fourth communication profile to the first other communication device for second subsequent communication with the first other communication device.
10. The communication device of claim 9 , wherein:
the third communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using first total power; and
the fourth communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using second total power that is less than the first total power.
11. The communication device of claim 9 , wherein:
the third communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using first power per channel and first total number of bits per second; and
the fourth communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using second power per channel that is less than the first power per channel and second total number of bits per second that is more than the first total number of bits per second.
12. The communication device of claim 9 further comprising:
a cable headend transmitter or a cable modem termination system (CMTS), and wherein the first other communication device is first cable modem, and the second other communication device is second cable modem.
13. The communication device of claim 9 further comprising:
a communication device that is operative within a cable communication system that includes at least one of a cable modem, a cable modem termination system (CMTS), or a cable headend.
14. A method for execution by a communication device, the method comprising:
receiving, via a communication interface of the communication device, first signal transmitted from first other communication device via first communication pathway;
receiving, via the communication interface, second signal transmitted from second other communication device via second communication pathway that has higher insertion loss than the first communication pathway;
assigning first one or more channels and first communication profile to the first other communication device for first subsequent communication from the first other communication device based on analysis of first signal, wherein the first communication profile specifies first bits per symbol per channel; and
assigning second one or more channels and second communication profile to the second other communication device for second subsequent communication from the second other communication device based on analysis of second signal, wherein the second communication profile specifies second bits per symbol per channel that is less than the first bits per symbol per channel, and wherein the second one or more channels includes at least one more channel than the first one or more channels.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the first communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using first total power; and
the second communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using second total power that is less than the first total power.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the first communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using first total power; and
the second communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using second total power that is less than the first total power.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the first communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using first power per channel; and
the second communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using second power per channel that is less than the first power per channel.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the first communication profile also includes information to direct the first other communication device to transmit the first subsequent communication to the communication device using first total number of bits per second; and
the second communication profile also includes information to direct the second other communication device to transmit the second subsequent communication to the communication device using second total number of bits per second that is more than the first total number of bits per second.
19. The method of claim 14 , wherein the communication device is a cable headend transmitter or a cable modem termination system (CMTS), the first other communication device is first cable modem, and the second other communication device is second cable modem.
20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the communication device that is operative within a cable communication system that includes at least one of a cable modem, a cable modem termination system (CMTS), or a cable headend.