AGGREGATION OF PHYSICAL LAYER INFORMATION RELATED TO A NETWORK
First Claim
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.
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Accused Products
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.
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Citations
73 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A connector assembly comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A computer comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A system comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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62. A computer comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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Specification