Appeal No. 2003-2027
Application No. 08/804,908
invention is operating. The cable 73 originates at the cable
head end 21. Various subscribers 60 are connected to the cable
via couplers 61. At each subscriber location being tested, a
remote unit such as remote unit 30 is connected. The remote unit
30 communicates with the head end unit to initiate various tests
and provide data from the tests to the service technician. See
page 4 of Appellants' specification. The operation of the
present invention is based on the observation that the
communication path from the cable head end to the subscriber
premises is known to be functioning correctly, since the
subscriber is already receiving television programming.
Communications from the head end to the subscriber locations will
be referred to as taking place in the "forward" direction in the
following discussion. The forward direction communications are
typically within the 50-550 MHz frequency range of the cable.
Similarly, communications from a subscriber location to the head
end will be referred to as taking place in the "return"
direction. The return direction communications typically occupy
the 5-40 MHz frequency range of the cable. See page 5 of
Appellants' specification.
Head end unit 20, when operating in the test mode,
periodically broadcasts a sign-on message and looks for a
22
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