Radio Frequency Identification Triangulation Systems for Communications Patching Systems and Related Methods of Determining Patch Cord Connectivity Information
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of determining patch cord connectivity information, the method comprising:
- receiving a first signal from an RFID tag that is associated with a first patch cord at a first RFID antenna;
receiving a second signal from the RFID tag at a second RFID antenna;
identifying the one of a plurality of connector ports that the first patch cord is connected to based at least in part on respective strengths of the received first and second signals.
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Abstract
Methods of determining patch cord connectivity information include receiving, at each of a plurality of RFID readers, a signal from an RFID tag that is associated with a first patch cord and then, identifying the one of a plurality of connector ports that the first patch cord is connected to based at least in part on respective strengths of the signals received at each of the plurality of RFID readers. RFID triangulation systems and methods of calibrating such systems are also provided.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of determining patch cord connectivity information, the method comprising:
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receiving a first signal from an RFID tag that is associated with a first patch cord at a first RFID antenna; receiving a second signal from the RFID tag at a second RFID antenna; identifying the one of a plurality of connector ports that the first patch cord is connected to based at least in part on respective strengths of the received first and second signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 22)
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10. A method of determining which connector port in a connector port array an RFID enabled patch cord having an RFID tag associated therewith is connected to, the method comprising:
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transmitting one or more signals from an RFID tag; receiving at each of a plurality of RFID antennas a received version of at least one of the signals transmitted by the RFID tag; and performing triangulation using at least some of the received versions of the one or more signals transmitted by the RFID tag to identify a connector port in the connector port array that the RFID enabled patch cord associated with the RFID tag is connected to. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for identifying which one of a plurality of connector ports a first patch cord is connected to, comprising:
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a first RFID antenna; a second RFID antenna; a third RFID antenna; one or more devices that are configured to measure the strength of signals received at the first, second and third RFID antennas; a controller that is configured to determine the location of an RFID tag associated with the first patch cord based at least in part on the measured strengths of the signals received at the first, second and third RFID antennas. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of calibrating a system for determining the patch cord connectivity information with respect to a connector port array, the method comprising:
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(a) inserting an RFID-enabled patch cord into a first of the connector ports within the connector port array; (b) energizing an RFID tag on the RFID-enabled patch cord to cause the RFID tag to emit a signal that is received at each of a plurality of RFID antennas that are associated with the connector port array; (c) measuring the strength of the signal received at each of the plurality of RFID antennas; (d) storing the measured signal strengths as pre-stored signal strength data for the first of the connector ports in the connector port array; and (e) repeating (a) through (d) for each of the connector ports in the connector port array in order to obtain pre-stored signal strength data for each of the connector ports in the connector port array.
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Specification