The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 25, 2000
Filed:
Feb. 25, 1997
Jack Needle, Dix Hills, NY (US);
Dimitrios Kokkinos, Flushing, NY (US);
Nynex Science & Technology, Inc., White Plains, NY (US);
Abstract
System for distributing multimedia information from a central office to multiple subscriber premises includes an optical backbone for transmitting a plurality of optical bands from the central office into a vicinity of the subscriber premises. A controllable switch, positioned outside the subscriber premises, selects a subset of the plurality of optical bands and blocks others that are not contained within the subset, inducing the subset onto an optical transmission pathway. A receiver positioned within the subscriber premises receives at least one optical band of the subset. The controllable switch, in various embodiments, limits the information received at a subscriber premises to only the information to which the subscriber subscribes. In this manner, the need to scramble signals to prevent theft of services is eliminated, since subscribers only receive the services to which they subscribe.