Management of electrical cable installations in a building

• US 20060004543A1
• Filed: 08/30/2005
• Published: 01/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Viavi Solutions, Inc. (Lumentum Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Test-Um Inc. (Lumentum Holdings Inc.)
• Inventors: Vogel, Ronald J., Watkins, Lee A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,366,630 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/182
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 3/00 Installations of electric cables or lines or protective tubing therefor in or on buildings, equivalent structures or vehicles installations of bus-bars H02G5/00; overhead installations H02G7/00; installations in or on the ground H02G9/00

Abstract

The installation of an electrical cable in a building and its subsequent testing are managed by first creating a computer database indicating the type of cable, the location where the cable is to be installed, the performance standard it should meet when installed in that location, and a test regimen to verify compliance with the performance standard. The database is then transferred into a hand held portable test instrument which is placed at the building site and connected to the cable to be tested.

Claims

1. The method of managing the installation of an electrical cable in a building, comprising the steps of:

creating a computer database indicating the type of cable, the desired performance characteristics it should have after it has been installed, and a test regimen that would be needed to verify those performance characteristics;

transferring the database into a portable test instrument; and

positioning the test instrument with the database contained therein at the building site.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the portable test instrument is selected to have the capability of generating any selected one of a plurality of test regimens.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the computer database is created with the same information for each of a plurality of cables, separately indicating desired performance characteristics for each of the corresponding cables, and also indicating a test regimen that would be needed for each cable to verify its desired performance characteristics.

10. A method according to claim 1 of testing and evaluating the performance of an electrical cable after its installation in a building, comprising the steps of:

(a) preparing in electronic data form a performance standard for the installed cable;

(b) selecting a portable test instrument that is capable of generating a test routine for a cable under test, and programming the performance standard into it;

(c) programming the portable test instrument with a comparison routine to compare the results of a cable test with a predetermined performance standard, and for generating a Pass/Fail result in response to that comparison;

(d) physically connecting the test instrument to the electrical cable;

(e) then actuating the test instrument to apply the test routine to the cable; and

(f) thereafter outputting the Pass/Fail result of the comparison.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the cable performance standard and the test comparison routine are first prepared in a computer and then downloaded into the portable test instrument.

12. A method according to claim 1 for testing and evaluating the performance of an electrical cable after its installation in a building, comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting a portable test instrument that is capable of generating a test routine for a cable under test;

(b) programming a performance standard for the installed cable into the test instrument;

(c) also programming into the portable test instrument a comparison routine to compare the results of a cable test with the performance standard, and for generating a result in response to that comparison;

(d) physically connecting the test instrument to the electrical cable;

(e) actuating the test instrument to apply the test routine to the cable; and

(f) thereafter outputting the result of the comparison.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the cable performance standard and the test comparison routine are prepared in a computer and then downloaded from the computer into the portable test instrument.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the comparison routine is programmed to generate a Pass/Fail result.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein the actuation of the test instrument is accomplished manually by pushing a button.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the comparison result is subsequently uploaded back into the computer.

19. A method according to claim 1 of testing and evaluating the performance of a particular electrical cable after its installation in a building, comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting a portable test instrument that is capable of generating a test routine including a sequence of a predetermined number of testing steps;

(b) preparing a performance standard for the particular cable in electronic data form which requires less than that predetermined number of steps;

(c) programming into the portable test instrument the electronic data for that performance standard, as well as a comparison routine for comparing the results of a cable test with the predetermined performance standard and generating a Pass/Fail result in response to that comparison;

(d) physically connecting the test instrument to the electrical cable;

(e) then actuating the test instrument to apply the test routine to the cable; and

(f) thereafter outputting the Pass/Fail result of the comparison.

21. The method according to claim 1, comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting a portable test instrument adapted to electronically store a test routine for the cable to be tested;

(b) physically connecting a pair of compatible Gigabit Ethernet chips to respective ends of the cable;

(c) physically connecting the portable test instrument to one end of the electrical cable through one of the associated Gigabit Ethernet chips;

(d) physically connecting an intelligent remote terminal to the other end of the cable through the other associated Gigabit Ethernet chip; and

(e) then actuating the test instrument to apply the test routine to the electrical cable.

22. The method according to claim 1 of testing electrical cables installed in a building, comprising the steps of:

selecting a hand-held portable test instrument having a data input, a display screen, a connection port for connecting to an end of a cable, cable selections keys, and a test actuation key;

loading into the instrument a comparison routine for comparing test results with a performance specification, and a plurality of test regimens of differing complexity;

loading into the test instrument a plan database that specifies a plurality of cables, port locations where each of the cables is to be connected, desired performance characteristics for the respective cables, and test regimens for the respective cables;

physically connecting the connection port of the instrument to an end of a particular cable;

operating the cable selection keys until a listing of the same cable appears on the display screen; and

then actuating the test actuation key so that in accordance with the database plan the test regimen for that cable will be generated by the instrument and applied to that cable, and the instrument will compare the test results with the performance specification for that cable.

3. The method according to claim 3 wherein the portable test instrument is connected at the building site to a particular cable to be tested

5. The method of managing the installation of an electrical cable in a building, comprising the steps of:

creating a computer database indicating the type of cable, the location where it is to be installed, the desired performance characteristics it should have after it has been installed in that location, and a test regimen that would be needed to verify those performance characteristics;

transferring the database into a portable test instrument; and

positioning the test instrument with the database contained therein in the building site at that location.

6. The method according to claim 5 wherein the portable test instrument is then connected to that cable at that location.

7. The method according to claim 5 wherein the portable test instrument is selected to have the capability of generating any selected one of a plurality of test regimes.

8. The method according to claim 7 wherein the computer database is created with the same kind of information for each of a plurality of cables, separately indicating desired performance characteristics for each, including a test regime for each cable to verify its desired performance characteristics.

17. The method according to claim 5 of testing electrical cables after they have been installed in a building, comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting a hand-held portable test instrument having a data input, a display screen, a connection port for connecting to an end of a cable, cable selections keys, and a test actuation key;

(b) loading into the instrument a plurality of test regimens of differing complexity, and a comparison routine for comparing the results of a test regimen with a performance specification;

(c) loading into the test instrument a plan database that includes a list of cables, the port locations where each of the cables is to be connected, desired performance characteristics for the respective cables, and test regimens required for the respective cables;

(d) physically connecting the connection port of the instrument to one end of a particular cable;

(e) operating the cable selection keys of the instrument to scroll the cable list until the identification of the same cable appears on the display screen; and

(f) then actuating the test actuation key so that in accordance with the plan database the test regimen for that cable will be generated by the instrument and applied to that cable, and the instrument will then compare the test results for that cable with the performance specification for that cable.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein an intelligent remote terminal is also connected to the other end of the same cable, prior to actuating the test actuation key.

20. A method according to claim 5 of planning and installing two different electrical cables at respectively different locations in the same building and after their installation testing their performance, comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting a portable test instrument that is capable of generating a test routine that includes a predetermined number of separate testing steps in sequence;

(b) preparing for one of the cables a performance standard in electronic data form which requires a test routine of less than that predetermined number of steps;

(c) preparing for the other cable a performance standard in electronic data form which requires a test routine including all of that predetermined number of testing steps;

(d) storing the electronic data for both of the performance standards concurrently in the portable test instrument;

(e) physically connecting the test instrument to one cable and then actuating it to test that cable according to its respective test routine; and

(f) then physically connecting the test instrument to the other cable and actuating the test instrument to test the other cable according to its respective test routine.

9. A method of testing and evaluating the performance of an electrical cable after its installation in a building, comprising the steps of:

(a) selecting a portable test instrument adapted to electronically generate a test routine for a cable to be tested, and which is also capable of receiving and storing a test plan;

(b) utilizing a computer to prepare a test plan that includes both a performance standard for the installed cable, and a comparison routine to compare the results of a cable test with the performance standard and to generate a result in response to that comparison;

(c) downloading the test plan from the computer into the portable test instrument;

(d) thereafter physically connecting the portable test instrument to the electrical cable;

(e) then actuating the test instrument to apply the test routine to the electrical cable and generate a comparison of the received test information to the performance standard; and

(f) thereafter outputting the result of the comparison.

23. A hand-held portable test instrument for testing electrical cables after their installation in a building, the instrument comprising:

a housing having a data input, a display screen, and a port for physical connection to an end of a cable to be tested;

the instrument having loaded therein a plurality of test regimens of differing complexity, and a comparison routine for comparing test information received in response to a selected test regimen with a performance standard;

the test instrument also being adapted to have loaded therein a plan database specifying a plurality of cables, port locations where each of the cables is to be connected, desired performance standards for respective cables, and test regimens for respective cables for verifying compliance with the performance standards;

the instrument also having cable selection keys mounted on the housing for selecting a cable identified in the database and displaying the identification of that selected cable on the display screen; and

the instrument also having mounted on the housing a test actuation key operable when the displayed cable identification corresponds to the physically connected cable to generate the corresponding test regimen so that instrument may then compare test information with the performance standard for that cable.

24. A hand-held portable test instrument for testing electrical cables after their installation in a building, the instrument comprising:

a housing having a port for physically connecting an end of a cable to be tested, and a display screen;

the instrument containing therein a plurality of test regimens of differing complexity, and a comparison routine for comparing test information received in response to a selected test regimen with a performance standard;

the instrument also having a data input for receiving a plan database specifying a plurality of cables;

the instrument also having cable selection keys for selecting a cable identified in the database and for displaying the identification of a selected cable on the display screen; and

a test actuation key on the housing and operable to generate a test regimen for testing a cable connected to the instrument.

25. Apparatus for planning, installing, and verifying a set of electrical cables in a building, comprising:

(a) a computer;

(b) a program resident in the computer and adapted to create a computer data base with a graphic display of existing room layouts in the building, specified ports for proposed cable terminations, representations of the cable types selected to be connected to respective ports, and a representation of the plan for intended use of each cable;

(c) a portable test instrument having data processing capability compatible with the computer so that it can both receive the plan information from the computer and transfer data back into the computer;

(d) a remote terminal unit compatible with the portable test instrument and adapted to be connected to the remote end of a cable being tested to selectively transmit information back to the portable test instrument;

(e) the portable test instrument having the capability to selectively energize the remote terminal unit and instruct the remote terminal unit to provide test information back to it;

(f) the portable test instrument also being adapted to test the performance of each separate cable of the completed installation specifically against requirements for its intended use at that location, and to store the test results in the test instrument;

(g) the portable test instrument being adapted to transmit the plan and test results back to the computer; and

(h) a printer associated with the computer to print out for a business purpose both the plan information and the comparison test results.