Patch panel cover mounted antenna grid for use in the automatic determination of network cable connections using RFID tags
First Claim
1. A patch panel cover for use in determining connectivity between one or more device ports comprised in a patch panel and one or more cable ends having corresponding RFID tags attached thereto, the one or more cable ends being connected to corresponding ones of said one or more device ports of said patch panel, the patch panel cover comprising a plurality of RFID antennas, each of said RFID antennas comprising one or more protruding portions thereof, each of said protruding portions of said RFID antennas being in close physical proximity to one or more of said plurality of device ports when said patch panel cover is positioned in a fixed, predefined relationship to said patch panel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An RF antenna grid design in which the antenna array is installed on a patch panel cover allows for the retrofitting of an RF antenna grid on existing patch panel based systems without disrupting network operation. An apparatus for determining connectivity between device ports on a patch panel and cable ends having corresponding RFID tags attached thereto comprises a patch panel having a plurality of device ports and a patch panel cover comprising a plurality of RFID antennas, where each of the RFID antennas comprises one or more protruding portions thereof, each of the protruding portions of the RFID antennas being in close physical proximity to one or more of the plurality of device ports when the patch panel cover is positioned in a fixed positional relationship to the patch panel (e.g., when the patch panel cover is “attached” to the patch panel).
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A patch panel cover for use in determining connectivity between one or more device ports comprised in a patch panel and one or more cable ends having corresponding RFID tags attached thereto, the one or more cable ends being connected to corresponding ones of said one or more device ports of said patch panel,
the patch panel cover comprising a plurality of RFID antennas, each of said RFID antennas comprising one or more protruding portions thereof, each of said protruding portions of said RFID antennas being in close physical proximity to one or more of said plurality of device ports when said patch panel cover is positioned in a fixed, predefined relationship to said patch panel.
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11. An apparatus for use in determining connectivity between one or more device ports and one or more cable ends having corresponding RFID tags attached thereto, the apparatus comprising:
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a patch panel, the patch panel comprising one or more of said device ports, one or more of said cable ends being connected to corresponding ones of said one or more device ports of said patch panel, a patch panel cover, the patch panel cover positioned in a fixed, predefined relationship to said patch panel, the patch panel cover comprising a plurality of RFID antennas, each of said RFID antennas comprising one or more protruding portions thereof, each of said protruding portions of said RFID antennas being in close physical proximity to one or more of said plurality of device ports. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification