System and method for adapting a piece of terminal equipment
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method for adapting a piece of Ethernet data terminal equipment, the piece of Ethernet data terminal equipment having an Ethernet connector, the method comprising:
- selecting contacts of the Ethernet connector comprising a plurality of contacts, the selected contacts comprising at least one of the plurality of contacts of the Ethernet connector and at least another one of the plurality of contacts of the Ethernet connector;
coupling at least one path across the selected contacts of the Ethernet connector; and
associating distinguishing information about the piece of Ethernet data terminal equipment to impedance within the at least one path.
1 Assignment
Litigations
6 Petitions
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.
553 Citations
148 Claims
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1. A method for adapting a piece of Ethernet data terminal equipment, the piece of Ethernet data terminal equipment having an Ethernet connector, the method comprising:
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selecting contacts of the Ethernet connector comprising a plurality of contacts, the selected contacts comprising at least one of the plurality of contacts of the Ethernet connector and at least another one of the plurality of contacts of the Ethernet connector; coupling at least one path across the selected contacts of the Ethernet connector; and associating distinguishing information about the piece of Ethernet data terminal equipment to impedance within the at least one path. - 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, 28, 29, 30, 61, 62, 63)
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31. An adapted piece of Ethernet data terminal equipment comprising:
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an Ethernet connector comprising a plurality of contacts; and at least one path coupled across selected contacts, the selected contacts comprising at least one of the plurality of contacts of the Ethernet connector and at least another one of the plurality of contacts of the Ethernet connector, wherein distinguishing information about the piece of Ethernet data terminal equipment is associated to impedance within the at least one path. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 64, 65, 66)
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67. A method for adapting a piece of terminal equipment, the piece of terminal equipment having an Ethernet connector, the method comprising:
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coupling at least one path across specific contacts of the Ethernet connector, the at least one path permits use of the specific contacts for Ethernet communication, the Ethernet connector comprising the contact 1 through the contact 8, the specific contacts of the Ethernet connector comprising at least one of the contacts of the Ethernet connector and at least another one of the contacts of the Ethernet connector; and arranging impedance within the at least one path to distinguish the piece of terminal equipment. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107)
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78. The method according to 77 wherein the predetermined duration is between 17 and 833 microseconds.
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108. An adapted piece of terminal equipment having an Ethernet connector, the piece of terminal of equipment comprising:
at least one path coupled across specific contacts of the Ethernet connector, the at least one path permits use of the specific contacts for Ethernet communication, the Ethernet connector comprising the contact 1 through the contact 8, the specific contacts comprising at least one of the contacts of the Ethernet connector and at least another one of the contacts of the Ethernet connector, impedance within the at least one path arranged to distinguish the piece of terminal equipment. - View Dependent Claims (109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148)
Specification