FORM-2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13) A CUSTOMER-PREMISES EQUIPMENT
RELIANCE JIO INFOCOMM LIMITED
an Indian Company
of 3rd Floor, Maker Chamber IV,
222, Nariman Point,
Mumbai - 400 021, Maharashtra, India
Inventors:
1. GUPTA DEEPAK
2. SHAH BRIJESH
3.AGRAWAL ATUL
THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION PARTICULARLY DESCRIBES THE INVENTION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS TO BE PERFORMED

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
The present disclosure relates to the field of communication network.
More specifically, the present disclosure relates to customer-premises
equipment (CPE).
DEFINITION
The expression 'customer-premises equipment (CPE)' used hereinafter in this specification refers to but is not limited to telephones, routers, switches, gateways, set-top boxes, fixed mobile convergence products, home networking adaptors and internet access gateways that enable users to access communication network services distributed around their houses via a local area network.
The expressions 'layer1 or 'layers' used hereinafter in this specification refer to conductive and non-conductive layers of printed circuit boards (PCB).
The expression 'circuit board' used hereinafter in this specification refers to but is not limited to printed circuit board (PCB), printed wiring board (PWB), etched wiring board, printed circuit assembly (PCA), printed circuit board assembly and PCB assembly.
These definitions are in addition to those expressed in the art.
BACKGROUND
Generally, customer premises equipment (CPE) are located at a user's end and are connected to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The customer premises equipment are also known as subscriber's

equipment/subscriber's terminal. Customer premises equipment includes any equipment that is connected to a communication network and located at a customer site. Such equipment can be telephones, modems, fax machines, answering machines, and the like. It may or may not be owned by the customer. The customer premises equipment are used for bringing the broadband indoors, where the Ethernet connectivity is terminated on a WAN port in a home gateway for providing Wi-Fi or wired connectivity for accessing broadband indoors through devices such as mobile phones, desktop computers, laptops, LED TVs, Set Top Box, tablets, smart phones and the like.
Conventional CPEs have circuit including a power module and a modem module assembled on a single printed circuit board (PCB). Due to the use of a single PCB, the entire PCB needs to be replaced in case of a fault in any one of the modules of the PCB. Also, a power module of the PCB requires a thin PCB having two or three layers, whereas a modem module of the PCB requires a PCB having more than five layers. In prior art CPEs, due to use of a single PCB, the power module and the modem module are both provided with the larger number of layers as necessitated by the modem module. Generally, the power module operates at a higher voltage level than the modem module. Therefore, in conventional CPEs, operation of the modem module may be affected by the operation of the power module due to proximity, which emphasizes the need of proper isolation between power module and modem module at the time of designing PCB layout.
There is thus felt a need for eliminating the problems associated with the conventional CPEs. Further, there is a need to provide a customer premises equipment that comes with an option of replacing either the power module or the modem module in case of any fault in any one of the modules of the PCB. Furthermore, there is a need to provide a customer premises equipment in which

operation of the power module does not affect operation of the modem module. Again, there is a need to provide a customer premises equipment in which the number of layers for the power module is optimized based on the need.
OBJECTS
Some of the objects of the present disclosure which at least one embodiment is adapted to provide, are described herein below:
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a customer-premises equipment facilitating replacement of a faulty module of the PCB without hampering the operation of the healthy module.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a customer premises equipment wherein the operation of a modem module is not affected by the operation of a power module due to the proximity.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a customer premises equipment having a power module with reduced PCB layer architecture.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a customer premises equipment with reduced production cost.
Still a further object of the present disclosure is to provide a customer premises equipment with reduced operational cost.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide an efficient customer premises equipment.

Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures, . which are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided customer-premises equipment adapted to communicate with a communication network via a network node. The customer-premises equipment comprises:
• a discretely replaceable power module having a plurality of power module components assembled on a first circuit board having two to four layers, wherein at least one power module component is adapted to receive power from the network node via a communication port and further adapted to regulate the power to generate regulated power and supply the regulated power through at least one power module component; and • a discretely replaceable modem module having a plurality of modem module components assembled on a second circuit board having seven to nine layers and spaced apart from the first circuit board, wherein at least one modem module component is adapted to receive the regulated power for powering the plurality of modem module components, the modem module comprising:
■ at least one RF section having a plurality of signal components, wherein at least one signal component is adapted to communicate with the communication network via a discretely replaceable antenna module to receive and transmit signals therefrom;

■ a baseband processor co-operating with the RF section and
adapted to process the received and transmitted signals to generate processed signals; and
■ an Ethernet physical layer including a transceiver adapted to
receive and transmit the processed signals and communicate
the processed signals to the network node via the
communication port.
The power module and the modem module are communicatively connected through at least one connector.
Typically, the power module components include a Power over Ethernet (PoE) controller co-operating with a flyback converter, a schottky diode and at least one output filter.
Typically, the power module components are adapted to convert a first voltage ranging between 37 Volts and 57 Volts to a second voltage of 5 volts.
Further, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one modem module component adapted to receive the regulated power is a power management unit, wherein the power management unit is adapted to distribute the regulated power to the plurality of modem module components.
Additionally, the modem module components include a memory component co-operating with the baseband processor, the memory component comprising:
• a NAND flash configured to monitor boot-up activity of the modem module; and
• a SDRAM configured to monitor run time activity of the modem module.

The signal components can include at least one RF transceiver integrated circuit, at least one low noise amplifier, one power amplifier, at least one band pass filter and at least one switch.
Additionally, the discretely replaceable antenna module comprises at least one antenna component assembled on a third circuit board.
Typically, the communication port is an Ethernet port.
The Ethernet physical layer may be galvanically isolated from the communication port.
Typically, the communication port is mounted on the second circuit board.
Furthermore, the communication port may be mounted on a discrete circuit board.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first circuit board and the discrete circuit board are communicatively connected through the at least one connector.
Typically, the connector is a 10 pin U-type connector.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a configuration in which a plurality of user devices is coupled to an external communication network via a customer-premises equipment in accordance with the present disclosure;
Figure 2 illustrates a block diagram depicting the customer-premises equipment having two circuit boards coupled to each other; and
Figure 3 illustrates a block diagram of the customer-premises equipment in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The customer-premises equipment of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the embodiments which do not limit the scope and ambit of the disclosure. The description relates purely to the exemplary preferred embodiments of the disclosed system and its suggested applications.
The system herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
The customer-premises equipment of the present disclosure will now be explained with reference to Figures 1 through 3 with key components referenced generally as illustrated.

Figure 1 illustrates a configuration generally indicated by reference numeral 100 in which a plurality of user devices (not specifically shown in the figure) are coupled to an external communication network 102 via customer premises equipment 104 of the present disclosure. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the customer premises equipment 104 is located outside the customer premises 110. The customer premises equipment 104 facilitates communication between the user devices present inside the customer premises 110 and the communication network 102 via a network node 106. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the network node 106 is a home gateway for connecting the user devices to the communication network 102 through Wi-Fi or a wired broadband access. The customer premises equipment 104 receives data from the communication network 102 and transfers the same to the network node 106.
Generally, the network node 106 includes an inbuilt Power over Ethernet (PoE) injector for providing power and data via an Ethernet cable 108 to the customer premises equipment 104. In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, if the network node 106 does not support Power over Ethernet (PoE) injector, an external Power over Ethernet (PoE) adapter is required to receive power from a power supply in order to provide operational power to the customer premises equipment 104.
During operation, a request is initiated for a dynamic IP address allocation for the WAN port of the network node 106. The request is initiated typically through a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) request/response process. The WAN port of the network node 106 acts like a power over Ethernet source and powers up the customer premises equipment 104. The customer premises equipment 104 is connected to a base station of the service provider through the communication network 102, wherein the communication network

102 may include a network based on network protocols such as LTE, GSM, WCDMA, UMB, UMTS, CDMA and HSPA. The customer premises equipment 104 acquires an IP address from the service provider and is configured in a bridge mode to allocate the acquired IP address to the WAN port of the network node 106. The network node 106 translates the allocated IP address into private IP addresses and further provides these IP addresses to various user devices connected inside the customer premises 110.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the customer premises equipment 104 is communicatively coupled to the communication network 102 for coupling at least one user device to the communication network 102. The customer premises equipment 104 as disclosed has two functional modules namely a modem module 322 and a power module 320 assembled on two discrete printed circuit boards. Further, the equipment is facilitated to receive power from the network node 106 through a communication port 308. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the customer-premises equipment 104 includes a communication port 308. Typically, the communication port 308 is a RJ-45 port. The communication port is mounted on the second board 204 but can also be mounted on a discretely replaceable circuit board. The power module 320 receives power from the communication port 308 and regulates it to a desired voltage for enabling operation of the customer premises equipment 104. The power received by the power module 320 through the communication port 308 is at a voltage level ranging from 37 volts to 57 volts and typically a voltage of 48 volts is received by the power module 320.
Figure 2 illustrates a block diagram depicting the customer-premises equipment 104 having two circuit boards coupled to each other. The modem module 322 is assembled on a second circuit board 204 and the power module 320 is assembled on a first circuit board 202, wherein the first circuit board 202 is

provided with two to four layers and the second circuit board 204 is provided with seven to nine layers. Preferably, the modem module 322 is assembled on an eight layered printed circuit board and the power module 320 is assembled on a two layered printed circuit board. The second circuit board 204 and the first circuit board 202 are discretely replaceable and are used for routing electrical signals to and from the plurality of components mounted on their respective surfaces. In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first circuit board 202 and the second circuit board 204 are co-planar to each other. The first circuit board 202 is spaced apart from the second circuit board 204 and is connected to the second board 204 through connectors 206 and 208. Typically, the connectors 206 and 208 are 10 pin U-type connectors. The connectors 206 and 208 are not limited to U-type connectors and any electrically conductive connectors generally used for joining two PCBs can be used.
Power received by the customer-premises equipment 104 over an Ethernet cable 108 is transmitted to the power module 320. The pins of the connector 208 receive a voltage ranging between 37 V to 51 V, typically 48V from the network node 106 via the communication port 308 and transmit the received first voltage to the power module 320. The power module 320 steps down the received first voltage to a second voltage, typically 5V and further provides the second voltage to the pins of the connector 206. The connector 206 transmits the second voltage to the modem module 322 for powering components of the modem module 322 of the customer premises equipment 104.
Figure 3 illustrates a block diagram of the customer-premises equipment 104 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The customer premises equipment 104 comprises the following components: • the modem module 322 typically comprises the following components:

a RF Section 302;
■ a baseband processor 304;
■ a Ethernet physical layer 306 including a transceiver (not specifically shown in the figure);
■ a galvanic isolator 310, typically a Power over Ethernet (PoE) magnetic transformer;
■ a plurality of memory component 312;
■ a power management unit 314; and
• the power module 320 typically comprises the following components:
■ a Power over Ethernet (PoE) controller 336;
■ a flyback converter 316;
■ an output filter 318; and
■ a schottky diode (not specifically shown in the figure).
The customer premises equipment 104 further comprises a discretely replaceable antenna module 324 assembled on a third circuit board 338 and is connected to the RF section 302 via RF cables. The antenna module 324 receives and transmits signals from and to the communication network 102 for enabling communication between the RF section 302 and the communication network 102. The RF Section 302 comprises a plurality of signal components to communicate with the communication network 102 via the antenna module 324.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the antenna module 324 comprises at least one antenna component typically based on a 2X2 MIMO antenna technology. The antenna module 324 is assembled on the discrete third circuit board 338, wherein the third circuit board 338 has a single layer.

The signal components of the RF Section 302 include a RF transceiver integrated circuit (IC) 326 transmitting and receiving signals to and from the antenna module 324. During transmission, the RF transceiver IC 326 communicates with a switch 332, typically a time division duplexing (TDD) switch through at least one power amplifier 328. During reception, the RF transceiver IC 326 receives signals through at least one low noise amplifier 340, at least one band pass filter 330 and the switch 332. The RF Section 302 receives signals from the antenna module 324 and communicates the same to the RF transceiver integrated circuit 326 through RF traces (not specifically shown in the figure) therein. The RF transceiver integrated circuit 326 is further connected to the baseband processor 304. The baseband processor 304 processes the received signals to generate processed signals. The memory components 312 are connected to the baseband processor 304 through a parallel interface for co-operating with the baseband processor 304 in order to generate processed signals. The memory components 312 comprises a NAND (Negated AND) flash for monitoring boot-up activity of the modem module 322 and a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) for monitoring run time activity of the modem module 322. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the SDRAM is a low power random access memory (RAM) and is connected to the baseband processor 304 through a double data rate (DDR) interface. The Ethernet physical layer 306 is connected to the baseband processor 304 through Reduced Media Independent Interface (RMI1) and is galvanically isolated from a communication port 308. The galvanic isolation is achieved by the galvanic isolator 310, typically a Power over Ethernet (PoE) magnetic transformer connected to the communication port 308 via a media dependent interface. The Ethernet physical layer 306 transmits the processed signals to the communication port 308 that are further transferred to the network node 106. The communication port 308 is an Ethernet port coupled to an Ethernet cable in order to receive power from the network node 106 and

also to transmit processed signal to the network node 106. Further, the communication port 308 is adapted to receive signals from the network node 106 that are further transferred to the baseband processor 304 via the Ethernet physical layer 306. The power received at the communication port 308 is provided to the power module 320 by the connector 208. A first voltage ranging between 37V-57V, typically 48V received at the communication port 308 is provided to the power over Ethernet controller 336. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the Power over Ethernet controller 336 is compliant with IEEE 802.3af specification. The Power over Ethernet controller 336 co-operates with a flyback converter along with a schottky diode and an output filter to convert the first voltage into a second voltage. The connector 206 transmits the second voltage to the modem module 322, wherein the power management unit 314 of the modem module 322 receives the second voltage.
The power management unit 314 manages operational power requirements of the modem module 322. The power management unit 314 performs voltage scaling to cater to voltage requirements of various components of the modem module 322. The power management unit 314 also provides a voltage typically of 3V - 5V (as shown in FIGURE 2) to operate a plurality of LEDs 210 mounted on the first circuit board 210. The LEDs 210 receive a signal "LS" from the modem module assembled on the second circuit board 204. The LEDs 210 are used to indicate health status of the customer-premises equipment such as power indication, functional activity indication of various components of the power module and modem module and strength of the signals received by the RF section 302. The signals "E GND" and "S GND" shown in FIGURE 2 denote "earth ground" and "system ground" respectively.
Thus, by assembling discretely replaceable power module and discretely replaceable modem module on discrete circuit boards having reduced layer

architecture, production cost of the customer-premises equipment of the present disclosure is effectively reduced. Also, repair cost of the customer-premises equipment of the present disclosure is reduced due to discretely replaceable power module and modem module that enable the replacement of the faulty module without hampering the operation and health of the other module. Further, the customer-premises equipment of the present disclosure comprises a discretely replaceable antenna module assembled on a discrete third circuit board having a single layer architecture that enables the customer-premises equipment to possess a compact structure. Moreover, operation efficiency of the customer-premises equipment of the present disclosure is enhanced due to minimal proximity effect.
TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS AND ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE
The technical advantages of the system envisaged by the present disclosure include the realization of:
• a customer-premises equipment facilitating the replacement of a faulty module of the PCB in case of any fault therein without hampering the operation of the healthy module;
• a customer premises equipment wherein the operation of a modem module is not affected by the operation of a power module due to proximity;
• a customer premises equipment having a power module with reduced layer architecture.
• a customer premises equipment with reduced production cost;

• a customer premises equipment with reduced operational cost; and
• an efficient customer premises equipment.
Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
The use of the expression "at least" or "at least one" suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the disclosure to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

WE CLAIM:
1. A customer-premises equipment adapted to communicate with a communication network via a network node, said customer-premises equipment comprising:
• a discretely replaceable power module having a plurality of power module components assembled on a first circuit board having two to four layers, wherein at least one power module component adapted to receive power from the network node via a communication port and further adapted to regulate said power to generate regulated power and supply said regulated power through at least one power module component; and • a discretely replaceable modem module having a plurality of modem module components assembled on a second circuit board having seven to nine layers and spaced apart from said first circuit board, wherein at least one modem module component adapted to receive said regulated power for powering said plurality of modem module components, said modem module comprising:
■ at least one RF section having a plurality of signal
components, wherein at least one signal component adapted to communicate with the communication network via a discretely replaceable antenna module to receive and transmit signals therefrom;
■ a baseband processor co-operating with said RF section and
adapted to process said received and transmitted signals to generate processed signals; and
■ an Ethernet physical layer including a transceiver adapted to
receive and transmit said processed signals and communicate

said processed signals to the network node via said communication port.
2. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said power module and said modem module are communicatively connected through at least one connector.
3. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said power module components include a Power over Ethernet (PoE) controller co-operating with a flyback converter, a schottky diode and at least one output filter.
4. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said power module components are adapted to convert a first voltage ranging between 37 Volts to 57 Volts to a second voltage of 5 volts.
5. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one modem module component is adapted to receive said regulated power is a power management unit, wherein said power management unit is adapted to distribute said regulated power to said plurality of modem module components.
6. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said modem module components include memory components co-operating with said baseband processor, said memory components comprising:

• a NAND flash configured to monitor boot-up activity of said modem module; and
• a SDRAM configured to monitor run time activity of said modem module.
7. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
signal components include at least one RF transceiver integrated circuit,
at least one low noise amplifier, at least one power amplifier, at least one
band pass filter and at least one switch.

8. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
discretely replaceable antenna module comprises at least one antenna component assembled on a third circuit board.
9. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communication port is an Ethernet port.
10. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said physical layer is galvanically isolated from said communication port.
11. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communication port is mounted on a second circuit board.
12. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communication port is mounted on a discrete circuit board.
13. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 2, wherein said connector is a 10 pin U-type connector.
14. The customer premises equipment as claimed in claim 1 and claim 12, wherein said first circuit board and said discrete circuit board are communicatively connected through at least one connector.