Electronic cable signature

• US 20070189678A1
• Filed: 02/01/2006
• Published: 08/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SBC Knowledge Ventures LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Knowledge Ventures LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Heinmiller, Wayne, Khoshaba, Shadi, Barnes, Bruce, Marathe, Nikhil, Towster, Henry, Stahulak, Chuck
• Granted Patent: US 7,539,379 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 385/100
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4416 Heterogeneous cables
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4422 of the overhead type
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/44265 Fibre-to-antenna cables; Auxiliary devices thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H01B 9/005 including optical transmission elements

Abstract

Optical fiber cable from a Central Office (CO) to a Service Area Interface (SAI) Optical Line Terminal (OLT) box may have a plurality of optical fibers, each fiber having at least one conductive sheath to can propagate an identifying signal. Optical fibers that emit a signal with identifying information, or other useful information, may be advantageous when, for example, the fiber optic cable holds fibers owned by more than one content or service provider. A further advantage may be that a signal may be designated to a particular address, thereby facilitating the installation of fiber optic service to a customer.

Claims

1. An optical fiber construction comprising:

at least one fiber optic core;

an outer jacket housing the core; and

one or more sheaths between the jacket and the core, at least one of the sheaths comprising one or more portions connectable to a signal generator to receive an information signal propagated over the sheath.

2. The construction of claim 1, wherein one or more of the portions of the sheath connectable to a signal generated are physically attachable to the signal generator.

3. The construction of claim 1, wherein one or more of the portions of the sheath connectable to a signal generated are wirelessly connectable to the signal generator via a signal induction field.

4. The construction of claim 1, wherein at least one of the sheaths comprises a braid of multiple strands and wherein at least one of the strands comprises the portion connectable to the signal generator.

5. The construction of claim 1, further comprising a dielectric layer between at least one of the sheaths and the fiber optic core.

6. The construction of claim 1, wherein at least one of the sheaths comprises a conductive material selected to at least approximate one or more desired performance characteristics.

8. The system of claim 6, further comprising a signal source in communication with one or more of the sheaths to induce a signal into at least one of the sheaths.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising a detector to detect an emitted signal from the sheath.

10. The system of claim 6, further comprising a display to display information that relates to the detected signal.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the information comprises a waveform profile of the signal.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein the information comprises data.

13. The system of claim 6, wherein one or more of the optical fibers in the cable emits an identifying signal.

19. The system of claim 9, further comprising a computer in communication with the detector.

7. A fiber optic cable system, the system comprising:

a fiber optic cable housing a plurality of optical fibers, each optical fiber further comprising one or more sheaths between a fiber optic core and a jacket, wherein at least one of the sheaths comprises a portion connectable to a signal source to receive an information signal propagated over the sheath.

14. The system of claim 7, further comprising a detector to detect an emitted signal from the sheath.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the detector further comprises a display to display information that relates to the detected signal.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the information comprises a waveform profile of the signal.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the information comprises data.

18. The system of claim 7, wherein one or more of the optical fibers in the cable emits an identifying signal.

20. A fiber optic network having one or more network components, the network comprising:

one or more fiber optic cables comprising one or more optical fibers, each optical fiber further comprising one or more conductive sheaths; and

one or more signal sources connected to one or more of the sheaths such that at least one of the sheaths conveys a signal;

wherein one or more of the optical fibers connects to at least one of the network components.

21. The network of claim 20, wherein the network components comprise one or more fiber optic transmitters.

22. The network of claim 20, wherein the network components comprise one or more central offices.

23. The network of claim 20, wherein the network components comprise one or more optical line terminals.

24. The network of claim 20, wherein the network components comprise one or more service area interfaces.

25. The network of claim 20, wherein the network components comprise one or more end distribution points.

26. The network of claim 20, wherein the network components comprise one or more optical network terminals.

27. The network of claim 20, wherein the network components comprise one or more optical-to-electric converters.

28. The network of claim 20, further comprising one or more signal detectors to detect one or more signals conveyed by at least one of the sheaths.

29. A method for propagating information about one or more optical fibers via one or more optical fiber sheaths, the method comprising:

generating one or more signals in one or more of the optical fiber sheaths.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising detecting at least one of the signals in at least one of the sheaths.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of generating one or more signals comprises a inducing a signal into one or more of the sheaths with an induction field.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of detecting at least one of the signals comprises wirelessly detecting at one of the signals.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the step of detecting at least one of the signals comprises physically connecting one or more signal detectors to one or more of the sheaths.

34. A detector for detecting one or more signals from one or more optical fiber sheaths, the detector comprising:

a signal sensor to detect one or more signals from one or more sheaths and generate an output; and

a display to display the output from the signal sensor.

35. The detector of claim 34, further comprising a processor to process one or more detected signals, generate an output of processed information, and output the processed information to the display.

36. One more machine-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more machines, the instructions cause one or more of the machines to process signal information from one or more optical fiber sheaths containing signal information.

37. The machine-readable media of claim 36, wherein the instructions further cause one or more of the machines to output the processed information to a display that is in communication with at least one of the machine-readable media.

38. The machine-readable media of claim 36, wherein at least one of the media is housed in a signal detector device.

39. The machine-readable media of claim 38, wherein at least one of the media is housed in a computer in communication with the detector device.