Active Copper Multiplexer Signal Modulation High Bandwidth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional copper cabling is ineffective for high-bandwidth applications over long distances due to its limited capacity and high material requirements, and existing solutions fail to reduce the amount of copper necessary for these connections.
Innovation Solution
The use of active copper multiplexers and signal modulation systems that combine multiple electrical signals into a single high-bandwidth signal for transmission over a single copper cable, leveraging emerging copper materials and techniques like PAM4 modulation to increase bandwidth while reducing copper material usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional copper cabling is used for high-bandwidth applications, then signal transmission can be achieved, but the bandwidth capacity is limited and copper material requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple electrical signals (multiple lanes) into a single composite signal for transmission over one copper cable. The multiplexer merges N separate signal streams, each capable of lower bandwidth, into one aggregated high-bandwidth signal, thereby reducing the total quantity of copper cabling needed while achieving high bandwidth capacity through signal aggregation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from spatial multiplication (using multiple parallel copper cables) to temporal multiplexing (combining signals in time and frequency domains). By encoding multiple data streams into different time slots or frequency bands within a single cable, the system achieves high bandwidth without proportionally increasing copper material usage
2Productivity
If multiple copper cables are used to increase bandwidth, then bandwidth capacity improves, but the amount of copper material required increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of deploying multiple separate copper cables to achieve high bandwidth, the invention merges multiple lower-bandwidth electrical signals into a single composite signal that travels through one copper cable. This signal combination technique allows the system to achieve the equivalent bandwidth of multiple cables while using only one cable, directly reducing copper material requirements
Solution Approach 2:
A single copper cable is made to perform the function of multiple cables through advanced signal modulation and multiplexing techniques. The cable universally carries multiple independent data streams simultaneously by encoding them in different time or frequency domains, making one cable serve multiple functional purposes
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatuses, systems, and associated methods are described that provide signal transmission over copper media. An example module includes a number of electrical signal generators that each generate an electrical signal, and a signal modulation system that receives the electrical signals generated by the electrical signal generators. The signal modulation system further modulates each of the electrical signals such that each modulated electrical signal is distinguishable from the other modulated electrical signals. The module further includes an active copper multiplexer in electrical communication with the electrical signal generators that receives the modulated electrical signals from the signal modulation system. The active copper multiplexer further combines the multiple modulated signals into a single combined electrical signal and transmits the single combined electrical signal through a single copper cable.