System and method of determining cable characteristics
First Claim
1. A system for determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said system includes:
- means for transmitting a pulse over said communications cable;
means for detecting responsive to said transmitted pulse at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable;
means for derivative characteristics of said at least one reflected pulse, the derivative characteristics including a first derivative, a second derivative, and a third derivative; and
means for analyzing said at least one reflected pulse and its derivative characteristics to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of and system for automatically determining length, attenuation, impedance and existence of bridge taps on installed communication cable having access to only one end of the cable. A waveform, which includes incident and reflected pulses, is analyzed to determine the presence of significant pulses. The presence of only one positive significant pulse indicates the absence of any discontinuities and facilitates the calculation of a signal-to-noise ratio which determines whether the cable will support the operation of digital communication thereon. The presence of more than one positive significant pulse or a negative pulse indicates the presence of at least one fault on the cable which prevents the operation of digital communication on the cable.
160 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A system for determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said system includes:
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means for transmitting a pulse over said communications cable; means for detecting responsive to said transmitted pulse at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; means for derivative characteristics of said at least one reflected pulse, the derivative characteristics including a first derivative, a second derivative, and a third derivative; and means for analyzing said at least one reflected pulse and its derivative characteristics to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6)
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5. A system for determine whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said system includes:
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means for transmitting a pulse over said communications cable; means for detecting responsive to said transmitted pulse at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; means for deriving derivative characteristics of said at least one reflected pulse; means for calculating impedance characteristics of said communication cable; means for analyzing said at least one reflected pulse and its derivative characteristics to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable; and means for determining whether said detected at least one reflected pulse is significant;
wherein said analyzing means includes means for determining the number of significant pulses detected; andwherein only one positive significant pulse was detected and further includes; means for determining a length of said communication cable; means for calculating attenuation characteristics of said communication cable; and means, responsive to the length, the impedance and the attenuation of said cable, for calculating a signal-to-noise ratio for said communication cable.
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7. A method of determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said method includes the steps of:
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transmitting a pulse over said communications cable; detecting responsive to said transmitted pulse at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; deriving derivative characteristics of said at least one reflected pulse, the derivative characteristics including a first derivative, a second derivative, and a third derivative; and analyzing said at least one reflected pulse and its derivative characteristics to determine whether said communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 12)
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11. A method of determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said method includes the steps of:
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transmitting a pulse over said communications cable; detecting responsive to said transmitted pulse at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; deriving derivative characteristics of said at least one reflected pulse; analyzing said at least one reflected pulse and its derivative characteristics to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable; determining whether said detected at least one reflected pulse is significant;
wherein said step of analyzing includes the step of determining the number of significant pulses detected; andcalculating impedance characteristics of said communication cable; and wherein only one positive significant pulse was detected and further includes the steps of; determining a length of said communication cable; calculating attenuation characteristics of said communication cable; and using said length, impedance characteristics, and attenuation characteristics of said communication cable to determine whether said cable will support digital communications by calculating a signal-to-noise ratio for said communication cable.
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13. A system for determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said system includes:
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means for transmitting a pulse over said communication cable; means for detecting responsive to said transmitted pulse at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; means for determining whether said detected at least one reflected pulse is significant; means for analyzing said at least one reflected pulse to determine the number of significant pulses detected; means for calculating impedance characteristics of said communication cable; means for determining a length of said communication cable; means for calculating attenuation characteristics of said communication cable; means, responsive to a length, the impedance and the attenuation of said cable, for calculating a signal-to-noise ratio for said communication cable; and means for analyzing said at least one reflected pulse to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analyzing being performed from one end of said communication cable.
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14. A method of determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said method includes the steps of:
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transmitting a pulse over said communication cable; detecting responsive to said transmitted pulse at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; determining whether said detected at least one reflected pulse is significant; analyzing said at least one reflected pulse to determine the number of significant pulses detected; calculating impedance characteristics of said communication cable; determining a length of said communication cable; calculating attenuation characteristics of said communication cable; using said length, impedance characteristics, and attenuation characteristics of said communication cable to calculate a signal-to-noise ratio for said communication cable; and analyzing said at least one reflected pulse to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable.
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Specification