<title>Initialization protocol for a burst-mode transport HFC system with delay determination by power distribution measurement</title>

Abstract

An initialisation protocol for a TDMA based QPSK burst-mode transportation system for use on shared medium networks such as cable TV networks is described. Cable TV networks employ the coaxial bus principle between an optical node and the client modem. Each cable modem connected to the coaxial bus needs to undergo a start-up procedure at activation to determine certain timing and physical layer related settings. The mechanism described here performs identification of a modem, power ranging and distance ranging. A unique distance ranging mechanism is employed that offers delay ranging based on distribution power measurement.