Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of identifying a service-affecting condition on a line, the method comprising: measuring a frequency spectrum on the line, wherein the measurements are un-correlated with a stimulus signal; with at least one processor, determining whether a low frequency variation exists in the frequency spectrum, wherein the low frequency variation is a variation in magnitude of the frequency spectrum as a function of frequency; and based, at least in part, on the determination of whether a low frequency variation exists, indicating a state of the line.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein: indicating a state of the line comprises indicating that the line, without modification, will support a high speed data service.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein: indicating a state of the line comprises indicating that the line, if an extension is terminated, will support a high speed data service.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein: indicating, a state of the line comprises indicating that the line, if modified, will support a high speed data service.
5. A method of identifying a service-affecting condition on a line, the method comprising: measuring a frequency spectrum on the line, wherein the measurements are un-correlated with a stimulus signal; with at least one processor, determining whether a low frequency variation exists in the frequency spectrum; and based, at least in part, on the determination of whether a low frequency variation exists, indicating a state of the line, wherein the low frequency variation has a period, in the frequency domain, of greater than 1/10th of a frequency range of the frequency spectrum.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein: the frequency spectrum of the line is measured across a frequency range that includes 1 MHz to 28 MHz.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein: indicating the state of the line further comprises determining, based, at least in part, on the magnitude of a frequency component of the low frequency variation, a severity of a service-affecting condition on the line.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measured frequency spectrum is a noise spectrum.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the line is premises wiring for telephone services.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein: indicating the state of the line comprises indicating a pre-qualification state for VDSL2 service for the premises wiring.
11. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform a method of processing values representing a frequency spectrum on a line, the method comprising: with at least one processor, determining whether a low frequency variation exists in the frequency spectrum, wherein the low frequency variation is a variation in magnitude of the frequency spectrum as a function of frequency; and based, at least in part, on the determination that a low frequency variation exists, indicating a pre-qualification state of the line for providing a high speed data service.
12. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the pre-qualification state is selected from a set that comprises: qualified and not qualified.
13. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the set further comprises: the line has an un-terminated extension.
14. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the high speed data service is VDSL2 service.
15. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform a method of processing values representing a frequency spectrum on a line, the method comprising: with at least one processor, determining whether a low frequency variation exists in the frequency spectrum; and based, at least in part, on the determination that a low frequency variation exists, indicating a pre-qualification state of the line for providing a high speed data service, wherein the frequency spectrum has a bandwidth and determining whether the low frequency variation exists comprises performing a low pass filtering operation on the frequency spectrum to segregate variations with a period of greater than 1/20th the bandwidth.
16. A test device configured to pre-qualify a telephone line for a high speed data service, the device comprising: at least one input port configured for connection to the telephone line of the type that exists within a customer premises; a measurement section configured to measure a signal on a line connected at the input port; at least one processor configured to: compute a signal representative of low frequency variation of a frequency spectrum of the measured signal, wherein the low frequency variation is a variation in magnitude of the frequency spectrum as a function of frequency; and generate an indication of a pre-qualification state of the line for providing a high speed data service based, at least in part, on the computed signal.
17. The test device of claim 16 , wherein: the measurement section has a bandwidth exceeding 30 MHz.
18. A test device configured to pre-qualify a telephone line for a high speed data service, the device comprising: at least one input port configured for connection to the telephone line of the type that exists within a customer premises; a measurement section configured to measure a signal on a line connected at the input port; at least one processor configured to: compute a signal representative of low frequency variation of a frequency spectrum of the measured signal; and generate an indication of a pre-qualification state of the line for providing a high speed data service based, at least in part, on the computed signal wherein: the low frequency variation comprises frequency components with a period of longer than 1/20th of the bandwidth.
19. The test device of claim 18 , wherein: the at least one processor is further configured to transmit the indication of the pre-qualification state of the line to a computerized device operated by a provider of the high speed data service.
20. The test device of claim 18 , wherein the at least one input port comprises a standard telephone connector.
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February 23, 2016
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