Cable television headend

Cable television headend is a master facility for receiving television signals for processing and distribution over a cable television system. The headend facility is normally unmanned and surrounded by some type of security fencing and is typically a building or large shed housing electronic equipment used to receive and re-transmit video over the local cable infrastructure. One can also find headends in Power line communication (PLC) substations.

Reception

The cable TV headend will normally have several large dishes for reception of cable/satellite TV networks such as ESPN, CNN, or HBO; a dedicated, non-movable similsat is required for each communications satellite that the cable TV utility wishes to receive cable channels off of for distribution over its system.

Cable TV systems usually also carry local over-the-air television networks for distribution. Since each channel represents a defined frequency, a dedicated antenna is needed for each channel that the cable company wishes to receive and distribute.

Signal processing

Once a television signal is received, it must be processed. For satellite TV signals, a satellite receiver is needed for each channel. For over the air broadcast signals, a video/audio demodulator is needed for each channel that is to be distributed through out the cable system.

Once received, cable television signals are amplified, inserted into the Emergengcy Alert System, in some instances scrambled and then mixed into the cable system's channel plan using an upconverter. The channel plan then is combined with other services including high speed data, voice over IP telephony and video on demand. The combined signal is then sent to various hub sites and our cable plant via fiber optics.