Patch cord and management system and management method thereof

• US 10,132,851 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2015
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corning Research & Development Corporation (Corning Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Corning Research & Development Corporation (Corning Incorporated)
• Inventors: Bai, Xiaoyang, Yang, Zhijun, Ding, Min
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Tulsidas C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Leigh, Peter G
• Application Number:
  US15/520,657
• Publication Number:
  US 20170315167A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,090 Days
• Field of Search: 439488, 439489, 439 49, 385147, 385135
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/66 Testing of connections, e.g. of plugs or non-disconnectable joints testing for incorrect line connections G01R31/55
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 1/136 having patch field management or physical layer management arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 1/14 Distribution frames

Abstract

A patch cord, a management system and a management method thereof are provided. The patch cord (10) comprises a connection line portion (11), a first connector (21) arranged at a first end of the connection line portion (11), a second connector (22) arranged at a second end of the connection line portion (11), a first communication unit (31) arranged at near the first connector (21) including a first identifier and a second communication unit (32) arranged near the second connector (22) including a second identifier, wherein the first and second identifiers contain unique identify information for identifying the first connector and the second connector, respectively, and wherein the first identifier is different from the second identifier. The management system and the management method can differentiate connectors at the both ends of the patch cord by self-identification.

Claims

1. A patch cord, comprising:

a connection line portion;

a first connector arranged at a first end of the connection line portion; and

a second connector arranged at a second end opposite to the first end of the connection line portion;

and further comprising;

a first communication unit arranged near the first connector including a first read-only area, a first readable/writable area, and a first identifier, stored in the first read-only area; and

a second communication unit arranged near the second connector including a second read-only area, a second readable/writable area, and a second identifier stored in the second read-only area;

wherein the first and second identifiers contain unique identity information for identifying the first connector and the second connector respectively, and the first identifier is different from the second identifier,

wherein the first readable/writable area of the first communication unit at least stores the second identifier of the second communication unit; and

the second readable/writable area of the second communication unit at least stores the first identifier of the first communication unit, and

wherein the first identifier and the second identifier form a first composite identifier in the first communication unit according to certain rules; and

the second identifier in the second communication unit and the first identifier form a second composite identifier in the second communication unit according to certain rules such that the first composite identifier is different from the second composite identifier.

2. The patch cord according to claim 1, wherein:

the first identifier and the second identifier form the first composite identifier in sequence and the first composite identifier is stored in the first readable/writable area; and

the second identifier and the first identifier form the first composite identifier in sequence in the second communication unit, and the second composite identifier is stored in the second readable/writable area.

3. The patch cord according to claim 1, wherein:

the first communication unit is detachably connected to the first connector through a first carrier; and

the second communication unit is detachably connected to the second connector through a second carrier.

4. The patch cord according to claim 1, wherein the patch cord is a metal cable or a fiber optic cable.

5. The patch cord according to claim 1, wherein the first and second communication units are RFID tags.

6. A patch cord management system, comprising:

multiple patch cords comprising a connection line portion, a first connector arranged at a first end of the connection line portion and a second connector arranged at a second end opposite to the first end of the connection line portion, further comprising a first communication unit arranged near the first connector including a first identifier stored in a first read-only area of the first communication unit, and a second communication unit arranged near the second connector including a second identifier stored in a second read-only area of the second communication unit, wherein the first and second identifiers contain unique identity information for identifying the first connector and the second connector respectively, and the first identifier is different from the second identifier;

a wiring panel with multiple ports suitable for plugging in the first connectors or the second connectors of the patch cords;

at least one communication matching unit respectively arranged near the multiple ports to wirelessly communicate with the first communication units and/or the second communication units to read the first and second identifiers from the first and second communication units and to write a first composite identifier formed from the first and second identifiers to a first readable/writable area of the first communication unit and a second composite identifier formed from the first and second identifiers to a second readable/writable area of the second communication unit, such that the first composite identifier is different from the second composite identifier; and

a communication terminal connected to the at least one communication matching unit.

7. The patch cord management system according to claim 6, wherein:

the first and second communication units are RFID tags;

the at least one communication matching unit is an RFID antenna;

the communication terminal includes an RFID reader; and

the first and second communication units communicate with the at least one communication matching unit by non-contact radio frequency identification technology.

8. A patch cord management method, wherein a patch cord comprises a connection line portion, a first connector arranged at a first end of the connection line portion, a second connector arranged at a second end opposite to the first end of the connection line portion, a first communication unit arranged near the first connector, and a second communication unit arranged near the second connector;

the method comprises the following steps;

writing a first identifier including unique identity information for identifying the corresponding first connector to the first communication unit of the patch cord;

writing a second identifier including unique identity information for identifying the corresponding second connector to the second communication unit of the patch cord, wherein the first identifier is different from the second identifier;

reading the first identifier of the first communication unit;

reading the second identifier of the second communication unit;

writing the read first identifier to the second communication unit; and

writing the read second identifier to the first communication unit.

9. The patch cord management method according to claim 8, further comprising:

forming a first composite identifier with the first identifier and the second identifier in the first communication unit according to certain rules; and

forming a second composite identifier with the second identifier and the first identifier in the second communication unit according to certain rules,

wherein the first composite identifier is different from the second composite identifier.

10. The patch cord management method according to claim 9, further comprising:

inserting the first connector of the patch cord into one port of a wiring panel; and

writing the first composite identifier of the first communication unit and the port into a database.

11. The patch cord management method according to claim 10, further comprising:

looking for information of a corresponding port in the database according to the first composite identifier or looking for corresponding first identifier according to the information of the port; and

looking for and locating the first connector according to the identified information of the port or looking for and locating a position of the port according to the first composite identifier.

12. The patch cord management method according to claim 9, further comprising:

inserting the first connector and the second connector of the patch cord into first and second ports of a wiring panel, respectively;

writing the first identifier and the first composite identifier of the first communication unit and information of a first port into a database; and

writing the second identifier and the second composite identifier of the second communication unit and information of a second port into the database.

13. The patch cord management method according to claim 12, further comprising:

looking for the second identifier of the second connector in the database according to the first identifier and/or the first composite identifier; and

looking for the second connector according to the second identifier.

14. The patch cord management method according to claim 8, further comprising:

inserting the first connector of the patch cord into one port of a wiring panel; and

writing the first identifier of the first communication unit corresponding to the first connector and information of the port into a database.

15. The patch cord management method according to claim 14, further comprising:

looking for the information of a corresponding port in the database according to the first identifier or looking for the corresponding first identifier according to the information of the port; and

looking for and locating the first connector according to the identified information of the port or looking for and locating the position of the port according to the identified first identifier.