IDENTIFIABLE FIBERS OPTICS

• US 20080159738A1
• Filed: 12/29/2006
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Lavranchuk, James S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,210,755 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/17
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/3895 identification of connection, e.g. right plug to the right socket or full engagement of the mating parts keying element on the plug or adapter G02B6/3831; keying element on the ferrule G02B6/3851; keying element for electrical connection H01R13/64

Abstract

The present invention provides for an optical cable and methods for interconnecting modular components with optical fibers. Each optical fiber is electronically labeled with a unique serial number such that interconnections using the optical fibers can be accurately audited.

Claims

1-24. -24. (canceled)

25. An optical interconnection method, comprising:

receiving, at a network element, a message indicative of a port and optical cable associated with a desired interconnection;

retrieving an identifier from an electronic labeling device associated with an optical cable coupled to a port; and

determining whether the optical cable associated with a desired interconnection is connected to the port associated with a desired interconnection.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

generating an error signal if the optical cable associated with a desired interconnection is not connected to the port associated with a desired interconnection.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

coupling the optical cable associated with the desired interconnection to the port associated with a desired interconnection.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the received message is provided by a management system in communication with a plurality of network elements associated with the optical interconnection.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the received message is provided by another network element associated with the optical interconnection.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein the electronic labeling device comprises at least one of a semiconductor device and an RF identification (RFID) device.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the identifier comprises a serial number associated with the optical cable.

32. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

retrieving additional information from the electronic labeling device, the additional information comprising characteristics of the optical cable.

33. An optical cable, comprising:

a light guide for transmitting optical signals between first and second termination devices, each of the termination devices adapted to cooperate with a receiving port, at least one of the termination devices including an electronic labeling device for storing a cable identifier for transmission to a receiving port, wherein the receiving port is associated with a network element adapted to retrieve the cable identifier and determine whether or not the cooperation represents a desired interconnection.

34. The optical cable of claim 33, wherein each of the termination devices includes an electronic labeling device for storing a cable identifier for transmission to a respective receiving port.

35. The optical cable of claim 33, wherein the identifier comprises a serial number.

36. The optical cable of claim 33, wherein the optical cable comprises a plurality of light guides, each light guide being associated with a respective electronic labeling device and having a respective identifier.

37. The optical cable of claim 33, wherein each electronic labeling device further includes characteristic information related to the optical cable.

38. The optical cable of claim 33, wherein:

the network element is part of a system including a plurality of interconnected network elements being managed by an element management system (EMS); and

each network element identifies interconnecting optical cables using the cable identifiers and provides the interconnection information to the EMS.

39. The optical cable of claim 33, wherein:

the network element is part of a system including a plurality of interconnected network elements being managed by an element management system (EMS); and

each network element provides interconnection identification information to the EMS.

40. The optical cable of claim 33, wherein the electronic labeling device comprises at least one of a semiconductor device and an RF identification (RFID) device.

41. The optical cable of claim 34, wherein termination device information is protected when the termination device is plugged into a receiving port.

42. The optical cable of claim 33, wherein the light guide performs optical processing of optical signals.

43. An optical communications network, comprising:

a first network component for receiving a message indicative of a first network component port and an optical cable associated with a desired interconnection;

a second network component for receiving a message indicative of a second network component port and an optical cable associated with the desired interconnection; and

means for determining whether the first network component port and second network component port are coupled to the correct optical cable;

wherein each network component retrieves a respective identifier from respective electronic labels within the optical cable.

44. The optical communications network of claim 43, wherein:

the means for determining comprises a controller located within each network, wherein each network component controller compares respective received message information to respective port and cable identifier information to determine if its respective connection is correct.

45. The optical communications network of claim 43, wherein:

the means for determining comprises a central controller using optical cable identifier and port information received from each of the network components.

46. The optical communications network of claim 45, wherein:

the controller adapts the operation of at least one of the network components in response to a determination that a network component port is not coupled to the correct optical cable.

47. The optical communications network of claim 45, wherein the controller is a network manager, for centralized discovery of connectivity.

48. The optical communications network of claim 47, wherein the network manager automatically determines the connections of the optical cable.