Radio frequency identification triangulation systems for communications patching systems and related methods of determining patch cord connectivity information
First Claim
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1. A method of determining patch cord connectivity information, the method comprising:
- receiving a first signal from an RFID tag that is associated with a first patch cord at a first RFID antenna;
comparing the strength of the received first signal to pre-stored signal strength data for each of a plurality of connector ports at the first RFID antenna to identify one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received first signal;
receiving a second signal from the RFID tag at a second RFID antenna;
comparing the strength of the received second signal to pre-stored signal strength data for each of the plurality of connector ports at the second RFID antenna to identify one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received second signal;
receiving a third signal from the RFID tag at a third RFID antenna, wherein the identification of the one of the plurality of connector ports that the first patch cord is connected to is based on the respective strengths of the received first, second and third signalscomparing the strength of the received third signal to pre-stored signal strength data for each of the plurality of connector ports at the third RFID antenna to identify one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received third signal; and
identifying the one of the plurality of connector ports that the first patch cord is connected to based on the identification of the one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received first signal and the identification of the one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received second signal and the identification of the one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received third signal.
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Abstract
Methods of determining patch cord connectivity information include receiving, at each of a plurality of RFID readers, a signal from an RFID tag that is associated with a first patch cord and then, identifying the one of a plurality of connector ports that the first patch cord is connected to based at least in part on respective strengths of the signals received at each of the plurality of RFID readers. RFID triangulation systems and methods of calibrating such systems are also provided.
57 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of determining patch cord connectivity information, the method comprising:
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receiving a first signal from an RFID tag that is associated with a first patch cord at a first RFID antenna; comparing the strength of the received first signal to pre-stored signal strength data for each of a plurality of connector ports at the first RFID antenna to identify one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received first signal; receiving a second signal from the RFID tag at a second RFID antenna; comparing the strength of the received second signal to pre-stored signal strength data for each of the plurality of connector ports at the second RFID antenna to identify one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received second signal; receiving a third signal from the RFID tag at a third RFID antenna, wherein the identification of the one of the plurality of connector ports that the first patch cord is connected to is based on the respective strengths of the received first, second and third signals comparing the strength of the received third signal to pre-stored signal strength data for each of the plurality of connector ports at the third RFID antenna to identify one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received third signal; and identifying the one of the plurality of connector ports that the first patch cord is connected to based on the identification of the one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received first signal and the identification of the one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received second signal and the identification of the one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received third signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 18)
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8. A method of determining which connector port in a connector port array an RFID enabled patch cord having an RFID tag associated therewith is connected to, the method comprising:
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transmitting one or more signals from an RFID tag; receiving a first signal at a first RFID antenna, a second signal at a second RFID antenna and a third signal at a third RFID antenna, wherein each of the first, second and third signals comprise a received version of at least one of the signals transmitted by the RFID tag; and performing triangulation by (a) comparing the strength of the received first signal to pre-stored signal strength data for each of the connector ports in the connector port array at the first RFID antenna to identify one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received first signal, (b) comparing the strength of the received second signal to pre-stored signal strength data for each of the connector ports in the connector port array at the second RFID antenna to identify one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received second signal, and (c) comparing the strength of the received third signal to pre-stored signal strength data for each of the connector ports in the connector port array at the third RFID antenna to identify one or more connector ports that have pre-stored signal strength data that closely matches the strength of the received third signal in order to identify a connector port in the connector port array that the RFID enabled patch cord associated with the RFID tag is connected to. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A system for identifying which one of a plurality of connector ports a first patch cord is connected to, comprising:
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a first RFID antenna; a second RFID antenna; a third RFID antenna; one or more devices that are configured to measure the strength of signals received at the first, second and third RFID antennas; a controller that is configured to determine the location of an RFID tag associated with the first patch cord based on comparisons of the measured strengths of the signals received at the first, second and third RFID antennas to pre-stored signal strength data for each of the plurality of connector ports at each of the first, second and third RFID antennas. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification