Radio frequency identification of component connections
First Claim
1. A system for identifying, via an RFID reader, a connection of at least two components, the system comprising:
- a plug associated with the first component;
a socket associated with the second component, wherein the socket is adapted to receive at least a portion of the plug;
a pair of contact points associated with at least one of the plug and the socket;
a plug RFID transponder associated with the plug, wherein the plug RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder;
a socket RFID transponder associated with the socket, wherein the socket RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder;
wherein at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder is activatable when at least a portion of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder, respectively, electrically contacts the pair of contact points when the plug is at least partially received by the socket;
wherein the RFID reader is able to identify the plug and the socket into which the plug is at least partially received based upon an RFID signal communicated by at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
There is provided a system for identifying a connection of two or more components in which one or more RFID transponders are associated with the two or more components. A plug is associated with the first component, such as a fiber optic connector, and a socket is associated with the second component, such as a fiber optic adapter. An RFID transponder is associated with each component and at least one of the RFID transponders is activatable when the plug is received by the socket to enable the activated RFID transponder to communicate with the RFID reader. The antennas and integrated circuit chips that define the RFID transponders are positioned relative to the plug and socket to enable the one or more RFID transponders to activate when the plug is received by the socket. In addition, the RFID transponders may communicate with one another to identify other RFID transponders in order to communicate identities of two or more RFID transponders.
250 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A system for identifying, via an RFID reader, a connection of at least two components, the system comprising:
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a plug associated with the first component; a socket associated with the second component, wherein the socket is adapted to receive at least a portion of the plug; a pair of contact points associated with at least one of the plug and the socket; a plug RFID transponder associated with the plug, wherein the plug RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder; a socket RFID transponder associated with the socket, wherein the socket RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder; wherein at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder is activatable when at least a portion of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder, respectively, electrically contacts the pair of contact points when the plug is at least partially received by the socket; wherein the RFID reader is able to identify the plug and the socket into which the plug is at least partially received based upon an RFID signal communicated by at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for identifying, via an RFID reader, a connection of at least two components of telecommunications equipment, the system comprising:
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a plug associated with a first component of telecommunications equipment; a socket associated with a second component of telecommunications equipment, wherein the socket is adapted to receive at least a portion of the plug; at least one RFID antenna associated with the socket; a plug RFID integrated circuit chip associated with the plug; a socket RFID integrated circuit chip associated with the socket; wherein at least one of a plug RFID transponder and a socket RFID transponder is defined when at least a portion of the plug is received by the socket such that at least one of the plug RFID integrated circuit chip and the socket RFID integrated circuit chip is in electrical communication with the at least one RFID antenna, wherein the at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder defines at least one activatable passive RFID transponder; wherein the RFID reader is able to identify the connection of the first component of telecommunications equipment to the second component of telecommunications equipment based upon an RFID signal communicated by at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A system for identifying, via an RFID reader, a connection of at least two components of telecommunications equipment, the system comprising:
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a plug associated with a first component of telecommunications equipment; a socket associated with a second component of telecommunications equipment, wherein the socket is adapted to receive at least a portion of the plug; a plug RFID transponder associated with the plug, wherein the plug RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder; a socket RFID transponder associated with the socket, wherein the socket RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder; a condition responsive device associated with at least one of the plug and socket and in electrical communication with the respective plug RFID transponder or socket RFID transponder, wherein the condition responsive device is adapted to detect a condition; and a condition generating device associated with at least one of the plug and socket, wherein the condition generating device is adapted to generate the condition detected by the condition responsive device; wherein at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder is activatable when the condition responsive device detects the condition generated by the condition generating device; wherein the RFID reader is able to identify the connection of the first component of telecommunications equipment to the second component of telecommunications equipment by receiving an RFID signal from at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A system for identifying, via an RFID reader, a connection of at least two components, the system comprising:
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a plug associated with the first component; a socket associated with the second component, wherein the socket is adapted to receive at least a portion of the plug; a plug RFID transponder associated with the plug, wherein the plug RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder; a socket RFID transponder associated with the socket, wherein the socket RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder; wherein at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder is adapted to identify the other of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder and to selectively communicate an RFID signal with the identity of both the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder to the RFID reader when at least a portion of the plug is received by the socket; wherein the RFID reader is able to identify the connection of the first component to the second component based upon the RFID signal communicated by at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 43)
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37. A system for identifying, via an RFID reader, a connection of at least two components of telecommunications equipment, the system comprising:
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a plug associated with a first component of telecommunications equipment; a socket associated with a second component of telecommunications equipment, wherein the socket is adapted to receive at least a portion of the plug; a plug RFID transponder associated with the plug, wherein the plug RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder; and a socket RFID transponder associated with the socket, wherein the socket RFID transponder comprises a passive RFID transponder; wherein at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder comprises an electrical contact capable of forcing contact closure and the other of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder comprises an electrical contact capable of sensing the contact closure of the electrical contact of the other of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder when at least a portion of the plug is received by the socket; wherein at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder is adapted to identify the other of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder and to selectively communicate an RFID signal with the identity of both the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder to the RFID reader when the electrical contact capable of sensing the contact closure senses the contact closure; wherein the RFID reader is able to identify the connection of the first component of telecommunications equipment to the second component of telecommunications equipment based upon the RFID signal communicated by at least one of the plug RFID transponder and the socket RFID transponder. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification