System for communicating with electronic equipment
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A system for communicating information on a network having pieces of electronic equipment that connect to the network by cables having a plurality of wires therein, said system comprising:
- a central module having at least one power source;
a first piece of equipment;
a first cable having wires therein connected between the central module and the first piece of equipment;
a first remote module utilized in conjunction with the central module to alter a flow of current within at least a pair of wires in the first cable, the altered current flow communicating information about the first piece of equipment to the central module while the first piece of equipment is physically connected to the network via the first cable;
a second piece of equipment;
a second cable having wires therein connected between the central module and the second piece of equipment; and
a second remote module utilized in conjunction with the central module to alter a flow of current within at least a pair of wires in the second cable, the altered current flow communicating information about the second piece of equipment to the central module while the second piece of equipment is physically connected to the network via the second cable.
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Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a communication system (17) is provided for generating and monitoring data over pre-existing conductors (2A-2D) between associated pieces of networked computer equipment (3A-3D). The system includes a communication device (16) attached to the electronic equipment that transmits information to a central module (15) by impressing a low frequency signal on the pre-existing data lines of the remotely located equipment. A receiver (6) in the central module (15) monitors the low frequency data on the data lines to determine the transmitted information of the electronic equipment. The communication device may also be powered by a low current power signal from the central module (15). The power signal to the communication device may also be fluctuated to provide useful information, such as status information, to the communication device. Relocation of the electronic equipment with attached communication device to another location on the network is detected immediately and may be used to update a database. This invention is particularly adapted to be used with an existing Ethernet communications link or equivalents thereof.
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Citations
126 Claims
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1. A system for communicating information on a network having pieces of electronic equipment that connect to the network by cables having a plurality of wires therein, said system comprising:
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a central module having at least one power source; a first piece of equipment; a first cable having wires therein connected between the central module and the first piece of equipment; a first remote module utilized in conjunction with the central module to alter a flow of current within at least a pair of wires in the first cable, the altered current flow communicating information about the first piece of equipment to the central module while the first piece of equipment is physically connected to the network via the first cable; a second piece of equipment; a second cable having wires therein connected between the central module and the second piece of equipment; and a second remote module utilized in conjunction with the central module to alter a flow of current within at least a pair of wires in the second cable, the altered current flow communicating information about the second piece of equipment to the central module while the second piece of equipment is physically connected to the network via the second cable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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16. A system for communicating information on a network, said system comprising:
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a central module having at least one power source; a first piece of equipment; a first cable having a plurality of wires therein, at least a pair of wires in said first cable connecting the first piece of equipment to the central module through a first loop; a first remote module connected to the first piece of equipment; said first remote module including a transmitter utilized in transmitting first low-frequency multi-bit information to the central module over wires in the first cable without disturbing normal network high frequency data communication carried by wires in the first cable, said first remote module being utilized in conjunction with the central module to generate said first multi-bit information by altering a flow of current in the first loop while the first piece of equipment is physically connected to the network via the first cable; a second piece of equipment; a second remote module connected to the second piece of equipment; a second cable having a plurality of wires therein, at least a pair of wires in said second cable connecting the second piece of equipment to the central module through a second loop;
said second remote module including a second transmitter utilized in transmitting second low-frequency multi-bit information to the central module over at least a pair of wires in the second cable without disturbing normal network high frequency data communication carried by wires in the second cable, said second remote module being utilized in conjunction with the central module to generate said second multi-bit information by altering a flow of current in the second loop while the second piece of equipment is physically connected to the network via the second cable; andwherein said central module detects the multi-bit information transmitted over the first and second cables from the first and second pieces of equipment on the network. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 125, 126)
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53. A system for conveying information on a network having objects that connect to the network by cables having a plurality of conductors therein, said system comprising:
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a central module having at least one power source; a separate cable connected between each object and the central module, each cable having a plurality of conductors therein; a remote module utilized in conjunction with the central module to alter a flow of current within at least two of the conductors in the cable, the altered current flow conveying information about an object to the central module while the object is physically connected to the network via the cable. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
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89. A method for conveying information on a network having objects that connect to the network by cables having a plurality of conductors therein, said method comprising:
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connecting a separate cable between each object and a central module, each cable having a plurality of conductors therein; selecting a number of the conductors within a cable; applying at least one power source to the selected conductors; utilizing a remote module in conjunction with the central module to alter a flow of current within the selected conductors in the cable, the altered current flow conveying information about an object to the central module while the object is physically connected to the network via the cable. - View Dependent Claims (90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124)
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Specification