Line powering in a multi-line environment
First Claim
1. A method for line powering a multi-line remote communication terminal from a primary communication device comprising:
- receiving power at a primary communication device;
selectively setting one or more switches to energize one or more lines with power to thereby power the remote communication terminal;
receiving power at the remote communication terminal via the one or more energized lines;
monitoring the one or more energized lines for a fault or failure;
responsive to detecting a fault or failure, disconnecting the energized line on which the fault or failure was detected.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A line powering system for a multi-channel communication system is disclosed having a central office or primary communication terminal configured to communicate with one or more remote locations via two or more communication lines. Line powering, from the primary location to the remote location, is provided by a power supply, which is selectively connected to one or more of the lines via a switching module. Line monitoring and switch control may occur automatically or by a controller. A ground fault detector is provided to monitor for excessive ground fault current and selectively disconnect the faulted line. A rapid line voltage discharge module is provided to discharge line voltage to meet specification.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method for line powering a multi-line remote communication terminal from a primary communication device comprising:
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receiving power at a primary communication device;
selectively setting one or more switches to energize one or more lines with power to thereby power the remote communication terminal;
receiving power at the remote communication terminal via the one or more energized lines;
monitoring the one or more energized lines for a fault or failure;
responsive to detecting a fault or failure, disconnecting the energized line on which the fault or failure was detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method, for use with a multi-line communication system, for locating a communication channel on which a ground fault is occurring and disconnecting the line from a line powering circuit, the method comprising:
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providing power to line powering circuit within in a multi-line communication system;
connecting the powered lines to a line powering circuit to thereby create powered lines to thereby provide power to a remote terminal;
monitoring ground current sourced to ground from all of the powered lines;
comparing ground current to a threshold;
responsive to a ground current that is greater than the threshold, disconnecting one or more powered line from the line powering circuit and re-comparing the ground current to the threshold until the ground current is less than the threshold; and
upon re-comparing, if the ground current is less than the threshold, stopping the disconnecting and leaving the presently disconnected line disconnected, either permanently or temporarily. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for line powering a multi-line remote communication terminal via one or more communication lines comprising:
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one or more power supplies configured to provide power to one or more communication lines;
one or more actuation units configured to selectively connect power to one or more of the communication lines to create one or more powered lines;
one or more sensing units configured to monitor one or more aspect of one or more powered lines to create line status information;
one or more controllers configured to;
receive line status information from the sensing unit;
process the line status information to determine if a fault or failure is present on a line;
responsive to a fault or failure, controlling one or more actuation units to disconnect power from one or more lines on which a fault or failure was detected. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A line powering system for a multi-line communication device having a central office terminal and one or more remote terminals, wherein the one or more remote terminals receive data and power from the central office terminal, the system comprising:
- p1 at least one power source at the central office terminal configured to supply power to one or more lines which may be selectively connected to the at least one power source;
a controller configured to monitor the one or more lines connected to the at least one power source and generate one or more switch control signals;
one or more switches configured to selectively connect or disconnect, responsive to the one or more switch control signals, one or more lines to the at lest one power source to thereby provide power to the one or more remote terminals. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
- p1 at least one power source at the central office terminal configured to supply power to one or more lines which may be selectively connected to the at least one power source;
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26. A line powering system for a multi-line point to multi-point communication device having a central office terminal and at least two remote terminals located at the same or different remote locations, wherein the at least two remote terminals receive data and power from the central office terminal, the system comprising:
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one or more power sources at the central office terminal configured to supply power at the same or different voltage levels, wherein at least one power supply is configured to selectively connect to one or more lines;
at least one controller configured to monitor the one or more lines connected to the one or more power sources and generate one or more switch control signals responsive to at least the monitoring;
one or more switches configured to selectively connect or disconnect, responsive to the one or more switch control signals, one or more lines to at least one of the one or more power sources to thereby provide the same or different voltage levels to at least two of the remote terminals. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification