AGGREGATION OF PHYSICAL LAYER INFORMATION RELATED TO A NETWORK

• US 20100211664A1
• Filed: 02/12/2010
• Published: 08/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommScope Technologies, LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ADC Telecommunications Incorporated (TE Connectivity Limited)
• Inventors: Coffey, Joseph C., Anderson, John P., Patel, Kamlesh G., Raza, Mohammad H.
• Granted Patent: US 9,674,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 13/6658 on printed circuit board H01R13/6666 - H01R13/6691 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 24/64 for high frequency, e.g. RJ 45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/24 using dedicated network management hardware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/26 using dedicated tools for LAN [Local Area Network] management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/15 Interconnection of switching modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/351 for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

An exemplary system includes a plurality of connector assemblies. Each of the connector assemblies includes a plurality of ports. Each of the connector assemblies is configured to read information stored on or in physical communication media that is connected to the ports of the respective connector assembly. An aggregation point is communicatively coupled to the plurality of connector assemblies. The aggregation point is configured to automatically discover the connector assemblies and cause each of the connector assemblies to send to the aggregation point at least some of the information read from the physical communication media that is connected to its ports. The aggregation point is configured to store at least some of the information sent by the connector assemblies to the aggregation point. The aggregation point can also be configured to provide at least some of the information it stores to at least one other device via the network.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a plurality of connector assemblies, each of the connector assemblies comprising a plurality of ports, wherein each of the connector assemblies is configured to read information stored on or in physical communication media that is connected to the ports of the respective connector assembly; and

an aggregation point communicatively coupled to the plurality of connector assemblies, wherein the aggregation point is configured to automatically discover the connector assemblies and cause each of the connector assemblies to send to the aggregation point at least some of the information read from the physical communication media that is connected to the ports of the respective connector assemblies; and

wherein the aggregation point is configured to store at least some of the information sent by the connector assemblies to the aggregation point.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation point is configured to provide at least some of the information stored by the aggregation point to at least one other device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein at least one other device comprises application-layer functionality executing on a computer communicatively coupled to the aggregation point.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation point comprises middleware that provides an application programming interface (API) by which an external entity is able to access at least some of the information stored by the aggregation point.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the external entity comprises at least one of a computer executing application-layer software, a network management system, an enterprise management system, and an inter-networking device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation point and the connector assemblies are configured to use a discovery protocol in order for the aggregation point to automatically discover the connector assemblies.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the connector assemblies comprises at least one of a rack-mounted connector assembly, a wall-mounted connector assembly, an inter-networking device, a fiber distribution hub (FDH), a fiber splice panel, and a fiber termination point.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the connector assemblies comprises at least one of a patch panel, a distribution unit, a media converter, a wall-mounted connector box, wall-mounted jack, wall-mounted outlet, a wall-mounted media converter, a switch, a bridge, a router, a hub, a repeater, a gateway, and an access point.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the information comprises information about the physical communication media.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the information about the physical communication media comprises information about a connector attached to the physical communication media.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the information comprises information related to at least one of an identifier that uniquely identifies the physical communication media, a part number associated with the physical communication media, a connector type associated with the physical communication media, a media type associated with the physical communication media, a length associated with the physical communication media, a serial number associated with the physical communication media, a cable polarity, a date of manufacture associated with the physical communication media, a manufacturing lot number associated with the physical communication media, a visual attribute associated with the physical communication media, a visual attribute associated with a connector attached to the physical communication media, an insertion count associated with the physical communication media, an Enterprise Resource Planning system, test data associated with the physical communication media, media quality data associated with the physical communication media, and performance data associated with the physical communication media.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation point is further configured to receive and store at least one of:

information about the connector assemblies;

information about a layout of one or more buildings in which the connector assemblies are deployed;

information about locations of the connector assemblies or the physical communication media;

information about end-user devices;

information about the location of a voice-over-internet-protocol telephony device;

information that is manually entered and uploaded to the aggregation point; and

information about local conditions and requirements associated with each of the connector assemblies.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation point is further configured to receive and store at least one of information about the compliance of one or more components with one or more specifications, information about the compliance of a permanent link with one or more specifications, and information about the compliance of a channel with one or more specifications.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation point is further configured to receive and store information about compliance with one or more rules, regulations, laws, specifications, or standards.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more rules, regulations, laws, specifications, or standards comprise one or more communications, regulatory, or military rules, regulations, laws, specifications, or standards.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation point is at least one of:

implemented on a standalone network node;

integrated along with other network functionality;

distributed across multiple nodes in a network; and

implemented in a hierarchy of aggregation points.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one connector assembly is configured to read the information stored on or in physical communication media that is connected to the ports of that respective connector assembly from a storage device included in or coupled to the physical communication media.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein storage device comprises non-volatile memory.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the physical communication media comprises at least one of a copper patch cord or an optical fiber patch cord.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the physical communication media comprises a twisted-pair cable.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the twisted-pair cable has an RJ-45 modular jack connected to at least one end.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the physical communication media comprises a fiber optic cable.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the fiber optic cable has an LC connector, an SC connector, an ST connector, or an MPO connector connected to at least one end thereof.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the aggregation point and the connector assemblies are communicatively coupled to one another over an Internet Protocol network.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein power is supplied to the connector assemblies using power over ETHERNET.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein power is supplied to the connector assemblies using an external power supply.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the connector assembly further comprises visual indicators, each visual indicator being associated with a respective one of the ports.

28. A connector assembly comprising:

a plurality of ports, each of the plurality of ports configured to connect at least two segments of physical communication media to one another;

a processor configured to read information stored on or in at least one segment physical communication media that is connected to at least one of the ports of the connector assembly;

wherein the connector assembly is configured to be automatically discovered by an aggregation point that is communicatively coupled to the connector assembly; and

wherein the connector assembly is further configured to send at least some of the information read from the at least one segment of physical communication media to the aggregation point.

29. The connector assembly of claim 28, wherein the processor comprises a slave processor and wherein the connector assembly comprises a master processor that is communicatively coupled to the aggregation point, wherein the master processor is configured to be automatically discovered by the aggregation point and to send at least some of the information read from the at least one segment of physical communication media to the aggregation point.

30. The connector assembly of claim 28, wherein the connector assembly is configured to use a discovery protocol in order for the aggregation point to automatically discover the connector assembly.

31. The connector assembly of claim 28, wherein the connector assembly comprises at least one of a rack-mounted connector assembly, a wall-mounted connector assembly, an inter-networking device, a fiber distribution hub (FDH), a fiber splice panel, and a fiber termination point.

32. The connector assembly of claim 28, wherein the connector assembly comprises at least one of a patch panel, a distribution unit, a media converter, a wall-mounted connector box, wall-mounted jack, wall-mounted outlet, a wall-mounted media converter, a switch, a bridge, a router, a hub, a repeater, a gateway, and an access points.

33. The connector assembly of claim 28, wherein each of the ports in the connector assembly comprises:

a rear connector, a front connector, and an interface to read to the information stored on or in physical media inserted into the front connector.

34. The connector assembly of claim 33, wherein the front connector comprises a modular jack into which a plug attached to a patch cord is inserted.

35. The connector assembly of claim 28, wherein each of the plurality of ports is configured to couple at least two optical fibers to one another.

36. A computer comprising:

a processor configured to execute software; and

a network interface to communicatively couple the computer to a network;

wherein the software executed by the processor is configured to automatically discover at least one connector assembly via the network and to cause the connector assembly to send to the computer information stored on or in physical communication media associated with that connector assembly.

37. The computer of claim 36, wherein the software is configured to use a discovery protocol in order to automatically discover the connector assembly.

38. The computer of claim 36, wherein the software is configured to store the information sent by the connector assemblies to the computer.

39. The computer of claim 36, wherein the software is configured to provide at least some of the information received from the connector assemblies to at least one other device.

40. The computer of claim 39, wherein at least one other device comprises application-layer functionality executing on a computer communicatively coupled to the computer.

41. The computer of claim 36, wherein the aggregation point is implemented as a middleware that provides an application programming interface (API) by which an external entity is able to access at least some of the information stored by the aggregation point.

42. The computer of claim 41, wherein the external entity comprises at least one of a computer executing application-layer software, a network management system, an enterprise management system, and an inter-networking device.

43. The computer of claim 36, wherein the software is further configured to receive and store at least one of:

information about the connector assemblies;

information about a layout of one or more buildings in which the connector assemblies are deployed;

information about locations of the connector assemblies or the physical communication media;

information about end-user devices;

information about the location of a voice-over-internet-protocol telephony device;

information that is manually entered and uploaded to the computer; and

information about local conditions and requirements associated with each of the connector assemblies.

44. The computer of claim 36, wherein the software is further configured to receive and store at least one of information about the compliance of one or more components with one or more specifications, information about the compliance of a permanent link with one or more specifications, and information about the compliance of a channel with one or more specifications.

45. The computer of claim 36, wherein the computer is included in a hierarchy of aggregation points.

46. A system comprising:

a plurality of connector assemblies, each of the connector assemblies comprising a plurality of ports, wherein each of the connector assemblies is configured to read information stored on or in physical communication media that is connected to the ports of the respective connector assembly; and

an aggregation point communicatively coupled to the plurality of connector assemblies via a network;

wherein the connector assemblies are configured to send to the aggregation point at least some of the information read from the physical communication media that is connected to the ports of the respective connector assemblies; and

wherein the aggregation point is configured to store at least some of the information sent by the connector assemblies to the aggregation point; and

wherein the aggregation point is configured to provide at least some of the information stored by the aggregation point to at least one other device via the network.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the at least one other device comprises at least one of a computer executing application-layer software, a network management system, an enterprise management system, and an inter-networking device.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein the aggregation point comprises middleware that provides an application programming interface (API) by which the other device is able to access at least some of the information stored by the aggregation point.

49. The system of claim 46, wherein the aggregation point is configured to automatically discover the connector assemblies and cause each of the connector assemblies to send to the aggregation point the at least some of the information read from the physical communication media.

50. The system of claim 46, wherein the aggregation point and the connector assemblies are configured to use a discovery protocol in order for the aggregation point to automatically discover the connector assemblies.

51. The system of claim 46, wherein the connector assemblies comprises at least one of a rack-mounted connector assembly, a wall-mounted connector assembly, an inter-networking device, a fiber distribution hub (FDH), a fiber splice panel, and a fiber termination point.

52. The system of claim 46, wherein the connector assemblies comprises at least one of a patch panel, a distribution unit, a media converter, a wall-mounted connector box, wall-mounted jack, wall-mounted outlet, a wall-mounted media converter, a switch, a bridge, a router, a hub, a repeater, a gateway, and an access point.

53. The system of claim 46, wherein the information comprises information about the physical communication media.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the information about the physical communication media comprises information about a connector attached to the physical communication media.

55. The system of claim 46, wherein at least one connector assembly is configured to read the information stored on or in physical communication media that is connected to the ports of that respective connector assembly from a storage device included in or coupled to the physical communication media.

56. The system of claim 46, wherein the information comprises information related to at least one of an identifier that uniquely identifies the physical communication media, a part number associated with the physical communication media, a connector type associated with the physical communication media, a media type associated with the physical communication media, a length associated with the physical communication media, a serial number associated with the physical communication media, a cable polarity, a date of manufacture associated with the physical communication media, a manufacturing lot number associated with the physical communication media, a visual attribute associated with the physical communication media, a visual attribute associated with a connector attached to the physical communication media, an insertion count associated with the physical communication media, an Enterprise Resource Planning system, test data associated with the physical communication media, media quality data associated with the physical communication media, and performance data associated with the physical communication media.

57. The system of claim 46, wherein the aggregation point is further configured to receive and store at least one of:

information about the connector assemblies;

information about a layout of one or more buildings in which the connector assemblies are deployed;

information about locations of the connector assemblies or the physical communication media;

information about end-user devices;

information about the location of a voice-over-internet-protocol telephony device;

information that is manually entered and uploaded to the aggregation point; and

information about local conditions and requirements associated with each of the connector assemblies.

58. The system of claim 46, wherein the aggregation point is further configured to receive and store at least one of information about the compliance of one or more components with one or more specifications, information about the compliance of a permanent link with one or more specifications, and information about the compliance of a channel with one or more specifications.

59. The system of claim 46, wherein the aggregation point is further configured to receive and store information about compliance with one or more rules, regulations, laws, specifications, or standards.

60. The system of claim 59, wherein the one or more rules, regulations, laws, specifications, or standards comprise one or more communications, regulatory, or military rules, regulations, laws, specifications, or standards.

61. The system of claim 46, wherein the aggregation point is at least one of:

implemented on a standalone network node;

integrated along with other network functionality;

distributed across multiple nodes in a network; and

implemented in a hierarchy of aggregation points.

62. A computer comprising:

a processor configured to execute software; and

a network interface to communicatively couple the computer to a network;

wherein the software executed by the processor is configured to cause a plurality of connector assemblies coupled to the network to send to the computer information read from physical communication media connected to the connector assemblies;

wherein the software executed by the processor is configured to store at least some of the information sent by the connector assemblies to the aggregation point; and

wherein the aggregation point is configured to provide at least some of the information stored by the computer to at least one other device.

63. The computer of claim 62, wherein at least one other device comprises at least one of a computer executing application-layer software, a network management system, an enterprise management system, and an inter-networking device.

64. The computer of claim 62, wherein the software comprises middleware that provides an application programming interface (API) by which the other device is able to access at least some of the information stored by the computer.

65. The computer of claim 62, wherein the software is configured to automatically discover the connector assemblies and cause each of the connector assemblies to send to the aggregation point the at least some of the information read from the physical communication media that is connected to the connector assemblies.

66. The computer of claim 65, wherein the software is configured to use a discover protocol in order to automatically discover the connector assemblies.

67. The computer of claim 62, wherein the connector assemblies comprises at least one of a rack-mounted connector assembly, a wall-mounted connector assembly, an inter-networking device, a fiber distribution hub (FDH), a fiber splice panel, and a fiber termination point.

68. The computer of claim 62, wherein the connector assemblies comprises at least one of a patch panel, a distribution unit, a media converter, a wall-mounted connector box, wall-mounted jack, wall-mounted outlet, a wall-mounted media converter, a switch, a bridge, a router, a hub, a repeater, a gateway, and an access points.

69. The computer of claim 62, wherein the information comprises information about the physical communication media.

70. The computer of claim 62, wherein the software is configured to receive information about the connector assemblies and to store at least some of the information about the connector assemblies, wherein the software is further configured to provide at least some of the information about the connector assemblies stored by the computer to at least one other device.

71. The computer of claim 62, wherein the software is further configured to receive and store at least one of:

information about the connector assemblies;

information about a layout of one or more buildings in which the connector assemblies are deployed;

information about locations of the connector assemblies or the physical communication media;

information about end-user devices;

information about the location of a voice-over-internet-protocol telephony device;

information that is manually entered and uploaded to the computer; and

information about local conditions and requirements associated with each of the connector assemblies.

72. The computer of claim 62, wherein the software is further configured to receive and store at least one of information about the compliance of one or more components with one or more specifications, information about the compliance of a permanent link with one or more specifications, and information about the compliance of a channel with one or more specifications.

73. The computer of claim 62, wherein the computer is included in a hierarchy of aggregation points.