Systems and methods for managing a network

• US 20040073597A1
• Filed: 05/16/2003
• Published: 04/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panduit Corporation
• Original Assignee: Panduit Corporation
• Inventors: Bolouri-Saransar, Masud, Nordin, Ronald A., Caveney, Jack E., Doorhy, Michael V., Jacks, Steven A., Farrimond, Alan, Conneely, Richard J., Kozicki, Kenneth C., Farrimond, Elizabeth
• Granted Patent: US 7,519,000 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/200
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 24/62 Sliding engagements with one side only, e.g. modular jack coupling devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/10 Current supply arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8005 Flat-fee
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/1083 for hotels
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/22 Arrangements for supervision, monitoring or testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/38 Graded-service arrangements, i.e. some subscribers prevented from establishing certain connections queuing arrangements H04Q3/64
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 1/03 Power distribution arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 1/035 Cooling of active equipments, e.g. air ducts
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 1/136 having patch field management or physical layer management arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2201/12 Printed circuits
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/00 Systems for electrical power generation, transmission, distribution or end-user application management characterised by the use of communication or information technologies, or communication or information technology specific aspects supporting them

Abstract

A system for managing and documenting a local area communications network is provided which deploys power sourcing equipment and powered devices by the use of active electronic modules, having an Ethernet controller and Power over Ethernet forwarding capabilities, as integral, managed components within the cable plant, to enhance management, documentation, security and emergency 911 aspects of the network as well as extending the physical reach of the network.

Claims

1. A communications network wall panel comprising:

one or more user-side communication connections for connection to one or more user devices;

one or more network-side communication connections, at least one of said network-side communications connections corresponding to at least one of said user-side communications connections; and

a network port identification component, said network port identification component having a network port identification address associated therewith.

2. The communications network wall panel of claim 1 wherein said user devices are powered devices.

3. The communications network wall panel of claim 2 further comprising a power management component adapted to provide power to said network port identification component and to said powered devices.

4. The communications network wall panel of claim 1 further comprising a heat dissipation component.

5. The communications network wall panel of claim 4 wherein said heat dissipation component is a conductive member extending from said power management component to a user-side panel housing said one or more user-side communications connections.

6. The communications network wall panel of claim 3 wherein said power management component comprises a DC-to-DC power converter for accepting power from one or both of said user-side communication connection and said network-side communication connection and converting said power for use by said network port identification component.

7. The communications network wall panel of claim 1 further comprising an addressable switch for enabling or disabling data flow between one or more of said user-side communications connection and corresponding ones of said one or more network-side communications connections.

8. The communications network wall panel of claim 1 wherein said user devices are not powered devices.

9. The communications network wall panel of claim 1 further comprising one or more light indicators for facilitating installation, monitoring, and control of said network wall panel.

10. The communications network wall panel of claim 1 wherein said network side communications connections number at least two, a primary one of said network side communications connections being connected to a primary network and a secondary one of said network side communications connections being connected to a secondary network, said communications network wall panel further comprising a switch for enabling the switching of communications from at least one of said user-side communications connections from said primary network to said secondary network upon detection of communications problems with said primary network.

11. A system for managing network connections throughout physical locations of network elements comprising:

a router;

a network management program adapted to communicate with said router;

a plurality of network wall panels in communication with said router, said network wall panels comprising user-side communication connections and network-side communications connections, said plurality of network wall panels being provided in a plurality of physical wall panel locations of said network elements and further comprising electronic wall panel identification components having wall panel identification addresses associated therewith, said wall panel identification components responding to queries from said network management program with said identification addresses; and

a network management database in communication with said router, said network management database containing data linking said plurality of physical wall panel locations with said identification addresses associated with said electronic wall panel identification components.

12. The system of claim 11 in which said identification addresses are media access control addresses, and said electronic wall panel identification components are media access control chips.

13. The system of claim 11 further comprising a plurality of voice-over-internet-protocol telephones connected to said user-side communication connections of said network wall panels, said voice-over-internet-protocol telephones being adapted to place emergency calls.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said network management program is adapted to respond to an emergency call from one of said voice-over-internet-protocol telephones by providing to an outside emergency provider said physical wall panel location associated with the identification address associated with the electronic wall panel identification component of the network wall panel to which said voice-over-internet-protocol phone is connected.

15. A method of installing a communications network comprising:

installing a plurality of network wall jacks in a plurality of wall jack physical locations, said network wall jacks comprising user-side connections and network-side connections and electronic wall jack identification components having wall jack identification addresses associated therewith;

associating information regarding said wall jack physical locations with said wall jack identification addresses;

recording said wall jack physical location information and said associated wall jack identification addresses; and

storing in a database accessible to said communications network said wall jack physical location information and said associated wall jack identification addresses.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein storing said wall jack physical location information and said associated wall jack identification addresses comprises storing said wall jack physical location information and said associated wall jack identification addresses in a database of an E911 application program resident in a router upstream of said wall jacks in said communications system.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein recording said wall jack physical location information and said associated wall jack identification addresses comprises recording said wall jack physical location information and said wall jack identification addresses in a test instrument.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein recording said wall jack physical location information and said associated wall jack identification addresses comprises recording said wall jack physical location information and said wall jack identification addresses in a personal computer.

19. The method of claim 15 further comprising providing an emergency call management system within a router of said network, said emergency call management system being adapted to access said database.

20. The method of claim 15 further comprising storing installation instructions and providing said installation instructions to a communications network installer, said instructions informing said communications network installer how to associate said wall jack physical location information with said wall jack identification addresses.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein storing said installation instructions comprises storing said installation instructions in memory provided within said network wall jacks.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein storing said installation instructions comprises storing said installation instructions in memory provided within an installation test instrument.

23. The method of claim 20 wherein storing said installation instructions comprises storing said installation instructions in memory provided within a personal computer.

24. The method of claim 15 wherein storing said wall jack physical location information and said associated wall jack identification addresses comprises recording said wall jack physical location information and said associated wall jack identification addresses in a test instrument during installation of said network wall jacks and uploading said wall jack physical location information and said associated wall jack identification addresses to said database.

25. The method of claim 15 further comprising visibly indicating installation status of said network wall jacks with light indicators provided on said network wall jacks.

26. A method for providing security in a communications network comprising:

providing a plurality of network wall jacks in physical locations in said network, said network wall jacks comprising network-side connectors and user-side connectors and having electronic identification modules having identification addresses stored therein;

associating said identification addresses of said network wall jacks with said physical locations at which said network wall jacks are provided;

forwarding data to and from said network wall jacks using at least one network router; and

authorizing access to said communications network only by certain ones of said physical locations by restricting access to said communications network by network wall jacks having identification addresses associated with approved physical locations.

27. The method of claim 26 comprising providing access to said communications network by certain ones of said physical locations during specific times of day.

28. A system for documenting a communications network comprising:

a network management computer executing a network management program;

a router connected to said network management computer;

a plurality of network wall jacks connected to said router, said network wall jacks comprising network-side connectors for connection to said router and user-side connectors for connection to user devices, said network wall jacks further comprising identification electronics having identification codes associated therewith; and

a network management database;

wherein said network management computer is adapted to query said network wall jacks through said router, each of said network wall jacks being adapted to respond to said query with its associated identification code.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein each of said network wall jacks is adapted to respond to said query with user device identification codes associated with said user devices connected to each of said network wall jacks

30. The system of claim 29 wherein said network management database is adapted to compile said user device identification codes with physical location information corresponding to each of said network wall jacks in a network inventory.

31. A communications patch panel comprising:

a plurality of downstream network ports for accepting data signals from and forwarding data signals to network components downstream from the communications patch panel;

a plurality of upstream network ports for accepting data signals from and forwarding data signals to network components upstream from the communications patch panel, each of the upstream network ports being connected to a corresponding one of the downstream network ports for transmitting data signals between said upstream network ports and said downstream network ports to form upstream-downstream port pairs; and

a plurality of port identification components, each of said port identification components having a port identification address associated therewith, each of said port identification components being associated with one of said upstream-downstream port pairs.

32. The communications patch panel of claim 31 wherein said port identification components are adapted to forward said port identification address to network components located upstream or downstream of said communications patch panel in a network.

33. The communications patch panel of claim 31 wherein each of said upstream-downstream port pairs and its associated port identification component is an active patch panel jack, said communications patch panel further comprising a power converter for supplying power at a first voltage to a plurality of said port identification components of said patch panel, one of said active patch panel jacks being a power-accepting patch panel jack for accepting power at a second voltage from power-supplying equipment and forwarding said power at said second voltage to said power converter.

34. The communications patch panel of claim 33 further comprising at least one light indicator associated with each of said upstream network ports, said at least one light indicator indicating the network status of the corresponding upstream network port.

35. The communications patch panel of claim 33 further comprising at least one light indicator associated with each of said downstream network ports, said at least one light indicator indicating the network status of the corresponding downstream network port.

36. The communications patch panel of claim 33 further comprising at least one upstream light indicator associated with each of said upstream network ports and at least one downstream light indicator associated with each of said downstream network ports, said light indicators indicating the network status of their corresponding network ports.

37. The communications patch panel of claim 33 further comprising at least one remotely addressable network port switch associated with at least one of said network ports, said remotely addressable network port switch being remotely controlled to enable or disable communication via said at least one network port.

38. A communication system comprising:

a plurality of network wall jacks, each of said network wall jacks comprising a user-side communication connection, a network-side communication connection, and an identification module for storing wall jack identification information corresponding to the network wall jack;

network equipment connected via communications cables to said plurality of network wall jacks;

a network management system executing a network management program and connected to said network equipment; and

a database for storing information for use by said network management program.

39. The system of claim 38 wherein said network management program is adapted to transmit query signals throughout said communications network.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein said identification modules of said network wall jacks are adapted to respond to said query signals with said identification information.

41. The system of claim 39 wherein said communications network comprises user devices connected to said user-side communication connections of one or more of said plurality of network wall jacks and wherein said network wall jacks are adapted to respond to said query signals with said wall jack identification information and identification information associated with said user devices connected to said network wall jacks.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein said database contains physical location information corresponding to the physical locations of said network wall jacks and network management program is adapted to accept said wall jack identification information and said identification information associated with said user devices connected to said network wall jacks and construct a network inventory by associating said wall jack identification information with said identification information associated with said user devices connected to individual network wall jacks.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein said network inventory comprises a plurality of entries, each of said entries comprising said physical location information corresponding to the physical locations of said network wall jacks and further comprising said identification information associated with said user devices connected to individual wall jacks.

44. The system of claim 42 wherein said identification information associated with said user devices comprises media access control addresses associated with said user devices.

45. The system of claim 38 wherein at least one of said network wall jacks is connected via horizontal cabling to another of said network wall jacks.

46. The system of claim 38 wherein said network equipment comprises at least one network patch panel having at least one patch panel active jack provided therein.

47. The system of claim 46 wherein said at least one patch panel active jack is connected via network cable to at least one of said network wall jacks.

48. The system of claim 46 wherein said network equipment comprises at least two network patch panels being a first and a second network patch panel, each of said at least two network patch panels having at least one patch panel active jack provided therein, said at least one patch panel active jack of said first network patch panel being connected via network cable to said at least one patch panel active jack of said second network patch panel.

49. The system of claim 38 in which said network equipment comprises a router.

50. A communications system comprising:

at least one broadband router comprising at least one upstream connection to a communications service provider and at least one broadband router downstream connection;

at least one patch panel comprising at least one upstream connection to said broadband router downstream connection and at least one patch panel downstream connection, said connections of said patch panel being made through patch panel active jacks; and

at least one user jack, said user jack having an upstream connection to said patch panel downstream connection and a downstream connection to at least one user device, said upstream connection to said patch panel and said downstream connection to said at least one user device being made through a user active jack.

51. The communications system of claim 50 wherein said system is deployed in a multiple dwelling unit and said at least one user jack is located in a user residence.

52. The communications system of claim 51 further comprising a network management system in communication with said at least one broadband router and wherein each of said user active jacks is provided with a user active jack switch for enabling or disabling communication between said upstream connection to said patch panel and said downstream connection to said at least one user device, said active jack switch switching in response to signals from said network management system.

53. The communications system of claim 52 wherein each of said user active jacks comprises active jack logic and active jack memory, said active jack memory comprising active jack identification information, said active jack logic responding to queries from said network management system by sending said identification information upstream to said broadband router.

54. The communications system of claim 52 wherein said enabling or disabling communication between said upstream connection to said patch panel and said downstream connection to said at least one user device is performed in response to toll payment by a user of said communications system.

55. A communications system comprising:

at least one active jack adapted to be connected to at least one networking device via horizontal cabling, said at least one active jack comprising a network-side connection, a user-side connection, a storage component storing identification information associated with said active jack, and at least one indicator light indicating a connection status of said active jack, said active jack further adapted to be connected to at least one user device at a user-side connection of said active jack, said active jack being adapted to report to said at least one networking device the status of its connection to said at least one user device thereby enabling the sectionalizing of faults along a communication pathway between said networking device and said user device.

56. The communications system of claim 55 wherein said networking device is a patch panel.

57. The communications system of claim 55 wherein said communications system is a powered communications system active jack is adapted to consume from said horizontal cabling power necessary for operation of active jack components and to forward unused power via said user-side connection.