REDUNDANTLY POWERED AND DAISY CHAINED POWER OVER ETHERNET
First Claim
1. A distributed sensor network, the network comprising:
- an interface unit comprising a plurality of ports; and
a plurality of sensor strings, each sensor string comprising a plurality of sensor units coupled in series to one of the plurality of ports of the interface unit,wherein each one of the plurality of sensor units within a sensor string is configured to be provided both power and network connectivity via a first cable from one of the interface unit and an adjacent one of the plurality of sensor units within the sensor string and also to provide both power and network connectivity via a second cable to an adjacent one of the plurality of sensor units within the sensor string, andwherein a first string of the plurality of sensor strings is configured to be coupled to a second string of the plurality of sensor strings and wherein at least one of the plurality of sensor units within the first string is configured to provide power to at least one of the plurality of sensor units within the second string.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
According to one aspect, embodiments of the invention provide a distributed sensor network comprising an interface unit and a plurality of sensor strings, each sensor string comprising a plurality of sensor units coupled in series to a port of the interface unit, wherein each one of the plurality of sensor units is configured to be provided both power and network connectivity via a first cable from one of the interface unit and another sensor unit within the sensor string and also to provide both power and network connectivity via a second cable to another sensor unit within the sensor string, and wherein a first string of the plurality of sensor strings is configured to be coupled to a second string of the plurality of sensor strings and wherein at least one sensor unit within the first string is configured to provide power to a sensor unit within the second string.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A distributed sensor network, the network comprising:
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an interface unit comprising a plurality of ports; and a plurality of sensor strings, each sensor string comprising a plurality of sensor units coupled in series to one of the plurality of ports of the interface unit, wherein each one of the plurality of sensor units within a sensor string is configured to be provided both power and network connectivity via a first cable from one of the interface unit and an adjacent one of the plurality of sensor units within the sensor string and also to provide both power and network connectivity via a second cable to an adjacent one of the plurality of sensor units within the sensor string, and wherein a first string of the plurality of sensor strings is configured to be coupled to a second string of the plurality of sensor strings and wherein at least one of the plurality of sensor units within the first string is configured to provide power to at least one of the plurality of sensor units within the second string. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for providing power to a distributed sensor system, the distributed sensor system comprising an interface unit having a plurality of ports, and a plurality of sensor strings, each sensor string comprising a plurality of sensor units coupled in series to one of the plurality of ports of the interface unit, the method comprising:
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providing power from at least one port of the interface unit to a first port of a first sensor unit of at least one of the plurality of sensor strings; powering up the first sensor unit; forwarding power from a second port of the first sensor unit to a first port of a second sensor unit of the at least one of the plurality of sensor strings; powering up the second sensor unit; monitoring the plurality of sensor strings for a fault condition; and in response to detecting a fault condition in a first sensor string of the plurality of sensor strings, providing power from a second one of the plurality of sensor strings to the first sensor string to provide power to at least one of the plurality of sensor units within the first sensor string. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A Power over Ethernet (PoE) distributed sensor system, the system comprising:
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an interface unit comprising a plurality of ports; a plurality of sensor strings, each sensor string comprising a plurality of sensor units daisy chained together and coupled to one of the plurality of ports of the interface unit; and means for intelligently passing power from sensor unit to sensor unit within each one of the plurality of sensor strings, powering each one of the plurality of sensor strings, wherein each one of the plurality of sensor units within a sensor string is configured to receive power and data from one of the interface unit and an adjacent one of the plurality of sensor units within the sensor string and also to provide power and data to an adjacent one of the plurality of sensor units within the sensor string. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A PoE sensor unit;
- the sensor unit comprising;
an Ethernet switch; and a plurality of ports coupled to the Ethernet switch, each one of the plurality of ports being configurable to both receive power from an Ethernet cable coupled to the port and to provide power to an Ethernet cable coupled to the port, and each one of the plurality of ports being configurable to both receive data from an Ethernet cable coupled to the port and to provide data to an Ethernet cable coupled to the port, wherein the Ethernet switch is configured to forward data received at one of the plurality of ports to another one of the plurality of ports, and wherein the plurality of ports is configured to forward power received at one of the plurality of ports to another one of the plurality of ports.
- the sensor unit comprising;
Specification