Cable cellular heterogeneous network

1. A method comprising:

providing a physical connection between a node and a user equipment at a subscriber premises via a cable connection, wherein the node comprises a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (“DOCSIS”) remote PHY device (“RPD”) collocated with a cellular small cell device;

receiving at the node a cellular downlink (“DL”) data signal from a cellular network connected to the cellular small cell device;

combining the received cellular DL data signal with a DOCSIS downstream (“DS”) signal from a cellular network connected to the DOCSIS RPD to create a combined DS data signal; and

forwarding the combined DS data signal from the node to the user equipment via the cable connection.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving at the node from the user equipment a combined upstream (“US”) data signal comprising a cellular uplink (“UL”) data signal and a DOCSIS US signal;

extracting the cellular UL data signal from the combined US data signal; and

forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular network via the cellular small cell device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user equipment comprises a cable modem including a cellular tuner for extracting the cellular DL signal from the combined DS data signal and an antenna for receiving the extracted cellular DL signal from the cellular tuner.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the node comprises a multiplexer connected to the DOCSIS PHY and the cellular small node and wherein the combining comprises using the multiplexer to multiplex DOCSIS DS signal with the cellular DL data signal.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the node further comprises a tuner and wherein the extracting comprises:

using the tuner to extract the cellular UL data signal from the combined US data signal; and

forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular small cell device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein node further comprises an echo cancellation (“EC”) module and wherein the forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular small cell device further comprises forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular small cell device via the EC module.

7. One or more non-transitory tangible media that includes code for execution and when executed by a processor is operable to perform operations comprising:

providing a physical connection between a node and a user equipment at a subscriber premises via a cable connection, wherein the node comprises a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (“DOCSIS”) remote PHY device (“RPD”) collocated with a cellular small cell device;

receiving at the node a cellular downlink (“DL”) data signal from a cellular network connected to the cellular small cell device;

combining the received cellular DL data signal with a DOCSIS downstream (“DS”) signal from a cellular network connected to the DOCSIS RPD to create a combined DS data signal; and

forwarding the combined DS data signal from the node to the user equipment via the cable connection.

8. The media of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving at the node from the user equipment a combined upstream (“US”) data signal comprising a cellular uplink (“UL”) data signal and a DOCSIS US signal;

extracting the cellular UL data signal from the combined US data signal; and

forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular network via the cellular small cell device.

9. The media of claim 7 , wherein the user equipment comprises a cable modem including a cellular tuner for extracting the cellular DL signal from the combined DS data signal and an antenna for receiving the extracted cellular DL signal from the cellular tuner.

10. The media of claim 7 , wherein the node comprises a multiplexer connected to the DOCSIS PHY and the cellular small node and wherein the combining comprises using the multiplexer to multiplex DOCSIS DS signal with the cellular DL data signal.

11. The media of claim 7 , wherein the node further comprises a tuner and wherein the extracting comprises using the tuner to extract the cellular UL data signal from the combined US data signal and forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular small cell device and wherein node further comprises an echo cancellation (“EC”) module and wherein the forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular small cell device further comprises forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular small cell device via the EC module.

12. An apparatus comprising:

a node physically connected to a user equipment at a subscriber premises via a cable connection, wherein the node comprises a Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (“DOCSIS”) remote PHY device (“RPD”) collocated with a cellular small cell device and wherein the apparatus is configured for:

receiving at the node a cellular downlink (“DL”) data signal from a cellular network connected to the cellular small cell device;

combining the received cellular DL data signal with a DOCSIS downstream (“DS”) signal from a cellular network connected to the DOCSIS RPD to create a combined DS data signal; and

forwarding the combined DS data signal from the node to the user equipment via the cable connection.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 further configured for:

receiving at the node from the user equipment a combined upstream (“US”) data signal comprising a cellular uplink (“UL”) data signal and a DOCSIS US signal;

extracting the cellular UL data signal from the combined US data signal; and

forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular network via the cellular small cell device.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the user equipment comprises a cable modem including a cellular tuner for extracting the cellular DL signal from the combined DS data signal and an antenna for receiving the extracted cellular DL signal from the cellular tuner.

15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the cable connection comprises a hybrid fiber coaxial (“HFC”) connection.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the node comprises a multiplexer connected to the DOCSIS PHY and the cellular small node and wherein the combining comprises using the multiplexer to multiplex DOCSIS DS signal with the cellular DL data signal.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 further configured for performing echo cancellation in a receiver path of the cellular small cell.

18. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the node comprises a radio frequency (“RF”) channelizer.

19. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the node further comprises a tuner and wherein the extracting comprises:

using the tuner to extract the cellular UL data signal from the combined US data signal; and

forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular small cell device.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein node further comprises an echo cancellation (“EC”) module and wherein the forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular small cell device further comprises forwarding the extracted cellular UL data signal to the cellular small cell device via the EC module.