Methods and apparatus for facilitating cable locating

• US 7,197,214 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2005
• Issued: 03/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corning Optical Communications LLC (Corning Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Corning Cable Systems LLC (Corning Incorporated)
• Inventors: Luther, James P., Hurley, William C., Theuerkorn, Thomas, Elkins, Robert B. II, Nielsen, Lars K., Ott, Michael J., Jackman, William S.
• Primary Examiner(s): PAK, SUNG H
• Application Number:
  US11/112,661
• Publication Number:
  US 20050259930A1
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 385/100
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 15/00 Tags attached to, or associated with, an object, in order to enable detection of the object record carriers for use with machines having a detectable tag or marker G06K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4475 with provision for lateral branching G02B6/4431 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/562 locatable, e.g. using magnetic means

Abstract

A method of laying an at least partially buried fiber optic cable includes placing a fiber optic cable with at least one associated alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT) underground such that at least one AEFELT is buried underground.

Claims

1. A method of laying an at least partially buried fiber optic cable having at least one predetermined access location along the fiber optic cable for providing access to at least one pre-connectorized optical fiber, said method comprising:

placing a fiber optic cable with at least one associated alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT) underground such that at least one AEFELT is buried underground,

wherein the at least one AEFELT is proximate at least one of the predetermined access location of the fiber optic cable and the at least one pre-connectorized optical fiber.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising locating the cable using the at least one buried AEFELT.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the AEFELT comprises a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag.

4. A method in accordance with claim 3, further comprising:

digging a cavity at the located RFID tag; and

covering the cavity.

5. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the AEFELT proximate at least one of the predetermined access location of the fiber optic cable and the at least one pre-connectorized optical fiber contains data regarding the at least one of the predetermined access location of the fiber optic cable and the at least one pre-connectorized optical fiber.

6. A method in accordance with claim 3 wherein said locating the cable comprises locating the RFID tag proximate at least one of the predetermined access location of the fiber optic cable and the at least one pre-connectorized optical fiber in response to a service order.

7. A method in accordance with claim 6 further comprising:

accessing the at least one pre-connectorized optical fiber located RFID tag; and

making a fiber optic connection from the at least one pre-connectorized optical fiber to a residence.

8. A method in accordance with claim 7 wherein said making a fiber optic connection comprises making a fiber optic connection from the at least one pre-connectorized optical fiber to a network interface device (NED) located at the residence.

9. A method in accordance with claim 3 further comprising creating a slack storage location locatable by using at least one of the RFID tags.

10. A fiber optic distribution cable assembly, comprising:

a distribution cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers and having at least one predetermined mid-span access location positioned along the length of the distribution cable;

at least one optical fiber of the distribution cable accessed and terminated from the distribution cable at the mid-span access location; and

an alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT) positioned at the accessed optical fiber, the AEFELT configured to be operable at least four feet underground.

11. An assembly in accordance with claim 10 wherein alternating electromagnetic field emitting identification comprises a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag.

12. An assembly in accordance with claim 11 further comprising a tether comprising a first end attached to the distribution cable at the mid-span access location and at least one optical fiber optically connected to the at least one terminated optical fiber of the distribution cable, wherein the RFID is positioned at the tether.

13. An assembly in accordance with claim 12 further comprising a plurality of RFIDs each associated with a respective tether.

14. An assembly in accordance with claim 11 wherein the RFID comprises a passive RFID.

15. A method of updating location information of a fiber optic cable having at least one predetermined access location along the fiber optic cable for providing access to a tether comprising a first end attached to the fiber optic cable at the predetermined access location, said method comprising:

receiving an original target location of a desired fiber optic cable including an alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT), wherein the AEFELT is proximate at least one of the predetermined access location of the fiber optic cable and the tether;

locating the cable AEFELT at an actual location; and

updating the location information when the actual location was not the received original target location.

16. A method in accordance with claim 15 wherein said updating further comprises updating the location information wherein the location information comprises a database.

17. A method in accordance with claim 15 wherein said updating further comprises updating the location information wherein the location information comprises a map.

18. A method in accordance with claim 15 wherein to compare the original target location with the actual location, said method further comprises using a global positioning satellite (GPS) to ascertain the actual location.

19. A method in accordance with claim 15 wherein to compare the original target location with the actual location, said method further comprises measuring from a landmark to the actual location.

20. A fiber optic distribution cable assembly, comprising:

a distribution cable comprising a plurality of optical fibers and having at least one predetermined mid-span access location positioned along the length of the distribution cable;

at least one optical fiber of the distribution cable accessed and terminated from the distribution cable at the mid-span access location;

a tether comprising a first end attached to the distribution cable at the mid-span access location and at least one optical fiber optically connected to the at least one terminated optical fiber of the distribution cable;

an alternating electromagnetic field emitting locating transponder (AEFELT) positioned generally at the mid-span access location; and

an overmolded body formed from a flexible material encapsulating the mid-span access location including the AEFELT.