Methods and apparatus for facilitating cable locating

• US 20050259930A1
• Filed: 04/22/2005
• Published: 11/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corning Optical Communications LLC (Corning Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Corning Cable Systems LLC (Corning Incorporated)
• Inventors: Luther, James P., Hurley, William C., Theuerkorn, Thomas, Elkins, Robert B. II, Ott, Michael J., Nielsen, Lars K., Jackman, William S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,197,214 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 385/100
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 15/00 Tags attached to, or associated with, an object, in order to enable detection of the object record carriers for use with machines having a detectable tag or marker G06K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4475 with provision for lateral branching G02B6/4431 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/562 locatable, e.g. using magnetic means

Abstract

A method of laying an at least partially buried fiber optic cable includes placing a fiber optic cable with at least one associated alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT) underground such that at least one AEFELT is buried underground.

Claims

1. A method of laying an at least partially buried fiber optic cable, said method comprising:

placing a fiber optic cable with at least one associated alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT) underground such that at least one AEFELT is buried underground.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising locating the cable using the at least one buried AEFELT.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the AEFELT comprises a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag.

4. A method in accordance with claim 3, further comprising:

digging a cavity at the located RFID tag; and

covering the cavity.

5. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein at least one RFID tag is located at a mid-span access point on the fiber optic cable.

6. A method in accordance with claim 5 wherein the RFID tag located at the mid-span access point contains data regarding the mid-span access point.

7. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein at least one RFID tag is located at a network access point on the fiber optic cable.

8. A method in accordance with claim 7 wherein the RFID tag located at the network access point contains data regarding the network access point.

9. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein said locating the cable comprises locating the RFID tag at the network access point in response to a service order.

10. A method in accordance with claim 9 further comprising:

accessing the network access point at the located RFID tag; and

making a fiber optic connection from the accessed network access point to a residence.

11. A method in accordance with claim 10 wherein said making a fiber optic connection comprises utilizing a factory installed connector at the network access point.

12. A method in accordance with claim 10 wherein said making a fiber optic connection comprises:

utilizing a factory installed connector at the network access point to connect a drop cable to the network; and

connecting an unattached connectorized end of the drop cable to a network interface device (NID) located at the residence.

13. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein at least one RFID tag is located at a mid-span access point on the fiber optic cable and at least one RFID tag is located at a network access point on the fiber optic cable.

14. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein a RFID tag is placed on a first end of the fiber optic cable and a RFID tag is placed on a second end of the fiber optic cable opposite the first end, and said method further comprises completely burying the cable.

15. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein the fiber optic cable is operationally coupled at one end to a central office, and the cable comprises a distribution cable.

16. A method in accordance with claim 3 further comprising creating a slack storage location locatable by using at least one of the RFID tags.

17. A fiber optic distribution cable assembly, comprising:

a distribution cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers and having at least one predetermined mid-span access location positioned along the length of the distribution cable;

at least one optical fiber of the distribution cable accessed and terminated from the distribution cable at the mid-span access location; and

an alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT) positioned at the accessed optical fiber, the AEFELT configured to be operable at least four feet underground.

18. An assembly in accordance with claim 17 wherein the alternating electromagnetic field emitting identification comprises a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag.

19. An assembly in accordance with claim 18 further comprising a tether comprising a first end attached to the distribution cable at the mid-span access location and at least one optical fiber optically connected to the at least one terminated optical fiber of the distribution cable, wherein the RFID is positioned at the tether.

20. An assembly in accordance with claim 19 further comprising a plurality of RFIDs each associated with a respective tether.

21. An assembly in accordance with claim 18 wherein the RFID comprises a passive RFID.

22. A method of facilitating a locating of a fiber optic cable slack storage location, said method comprising:

creating a cable slack storage location by creating at least one loop of cable; and

placing an alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT) at the slack storage location.

23. A method in accordance with claim 22 wherein said placing comprises placing a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag at the slack storage location

24. A method of updating location information, said method comprising:

receiving an original target location of a desired cable including an alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT);

locating the cable AEFELT at an actual location; and

updating the location information when the actual location was not the received original target location.

25. A method in accordance with claim 24 wherein said updating further comprises updating the location information wherein the location information comprises a database.

26. A method in accordance with claim 24 wherein said updating further comprises updating the location information wherein the location information comprises a map.

27. A method in accordance with claim 24 wherein to compare the original target location with the actual location, said method further comprises using a global positioning satellite (GPS) to ascertain the actual location.

28. A method in accordance with claim 24 wherein to compare the original target location with the actual location, said method further comprises measuring from a landmark to the actual location.

29. A fiber optic distribution cable assembly, comprising:

a distribution cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers and having at least one predetermined mid-span access location positioned along the length of the distribution cable;

at least one optical fiber of the distribution cable accessed and terminated from the distribution cable at the mid-span access location;

a tether comprising a first end attached to the distribution cable at the mid-span access location and at least one optical fiber optically connected to the at least one terminated optical fiber of the distribution cable;

an alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT) positioned generally at the mid-span access location; and

an overmolded body formed from a flexible material encapsulating the mid-span access location including the AEFELT.