Patent Application
20150378118
The present disclosure relates generally to hybrid optical fiber and electrical communication systems.
Rapid growth of high-speed wireless devices including smart phones, tablets, and laptops continues in today's market, thereby creating higher demand for untethered contact. Today, copper solutions using RJ-45 plugs are most commonly used to connect high-speed wireless devices to a network, but have length and bandwidth limitations. Additionally, optical fiber solutions are costly and cumbersome, requiring external optical to electrical converters, several external power sources, and RJ-45 patch cords.
In general terms, this disclosure is directed to a hybrid power and optical fiber patch cord. In one possible configuration and by non-limiting example, the hybrid power and optical fiber cable is used to connect and power high speed wireless devices using optical fiber and electrical conductors in a single cable.
One aspect is a cable assembly comprising a cable with a first end and a second end, wherein the cable includes first and second electrical conductors and also includes first and second optical fibers. The cable assembly further comprises a first RJ-45 connector mounted upon the first end and a second RJ-45 connector mounted upon the second end wherein the first RJ-45 connector and the second RJ-45 connector each include an optical to electrical converter.
Another aspect is a patch cord comprises a hybrid cable having a first end and a second end, the hybrid cable including an outer jacket enclosing first and second electrical conductors that extend from the first end to the second end of the hybrid cable. The hybrid cable further includes first and second optical fibers that extend from the first end to the second end of the hybrid cable and that are enclosed within the outer jacket. The patch cord further comprises a first RJ-45 connector mounted at the first end of the hybrid cable and a second RJ-45 connector mounted at the second end of the hybrid cable, the first and second RJ-45 connectors each including a plurality of electrical contacts, the electrical contacts including power contacts and signal contacts, and the first and second RJ-45 connectors each including an optical to electrical converter. In addition, the optical to electrical converters are each electrically connected to the first and second electrical conductors and the first and second electrical conductors are also electrically connected to the power contacts of the first and second RJ-45 connectors. The optical to electrical converters further provide signal conversion interfaces between the first and second optical fibers and the signal contacts of the first and second RJ-45 connectors.
Another aspect is a system for providing high speed data transmission and power to an electronic device, wherein the system comprises a patch cord wherein the patch cord further comprises a hybrid cable, the hybrid cable including first and second electrical conductors and first and second optical fibers. The system further comprises a first RJ-45 connector mounted at a first end of the hybrid cable and a second RJ-45 connector mounted at a second end of the hybrid cable, the first and second RJ-45 connectors each including a plurality of electrical contacts, wherein the electrical contacts include power contacts and signal contacts, wherein the first and second RJ-45 connectors each include an optical to electrical converter electrically connected to the first and second electrical conductors. Additionally, the first and second electrical conductors are electrically connected to the power contacts of the first and second RJ-45 connectors and the optical to electrical converters provide signal conversion interfaces between the first and second optical fibers and the signal contacts of the first and second RJ-45 connectors. The system further comprises a first electronic device having a first RJ-45 jack, wherein the first RJ-45 jack has a plug opening for receiving the first RJ-45 connector of the patch cord, wherein the plug opening includes a plurality of electrical contacts, the plurality of electrical contacts including power contacts and signal contacts corresponding to the electrical and signal contacts of the first RJ-45 connector, wherein the first electronic device is powered by an external power source. The system also includes a second electronic device having a second RJ-45 jack, wherein the second RJ-45 jack has a plug opening for receiving the second RJ-45 connector of the patch cord, wherein the plug opening includes a plurality of electrical contacts, the plurality of electrical contacts including power contacts and signal contacts corresponding to the electrical and signal contacts of the second RJ-45 connector, wherein the second electronic device receives power from the first electronic device.
A further aspect is a cable assembly having a hybrid cable having a first end and a second end, the hybrid cable including an outer jacket enclosing first and second conductive buffer regions that extend from the first end to the second end of the hybrid cable, wherein the first conductive buffer region encloses a first optical fiber and the second conductive buffer region encloses a second optical fiber.
Various embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the figures, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts and assemblies throughout the several views. Reference to various embodiments does not limit the scope of the claims attached hereto. Additionally, any examples set forth in this specification are not intended to be limiting and merely set forth some of the many possible embodiments for the appended claims.
The present disclosure describes a hybrid power and optical fiber patch cord using two modified eight pin, eight contact connector plugs and also includes optical fibers for data transmission and a buffer region with electrical conductors to power an external computing device. Additionally, the present disclosure describes an optical to electrical converter embedded within both eight pin, eight contact connector plugs, thereby eliminating the need for external optical to electrical converters. In some embodiments, an eight pin, eight contact connector plug is an RJ-45 plug. As used herein, the term RJ-45 plug means a plug having a standard RJ-45 plug interface including a rectangular form factor supporting eight consecutive electrical contacts, an alignment key, and a flexible latch for allowing matability with an RJ-45 jack.
In this example, the hybrid cable 102 connects to the RJ-45 jack 112 of the first electronic device 104 using the first RJ-45 plug 114 mounted to the first end 116 of the hybrid cable 102. The RJ-45 plug 114 also contains a latch 128 and an alignment key 130 for allowing matability with the RJ-45 jack 112. The RJ-45 plug 114 also includes an embedded optical to electrical converter 118 used to convert electrical signals received from the first electronic device 104 to optical signals and to convert optical signals received from the hybrid cable 102 to electrical signals transmitted to the first electronic device 104.
In this example, the second electronic device 106 is a wireless router and also contains an RJ-45 jack 126, or a plug opening including a plurality of electrical contacts wherein the contacts further include a plurality of signal contacts and power contacts corresponding to the electrical and signal contacts of the mating RJ-45 plug 120. The RJ-45 jack 126 is used to send and receive data to and from the first electronic device 104 and to receive power from the first electronic device 104 over the hybrid cable 102.
In this example, the hybrid cable 102 connects to the RJ-45 jack 126 of the second electronic device 106 using a second RJ-45 plug 120 mounted to the second end 122 of the hybrid cable 102. The RJ-45 plug 120 also contains a latch 132 and an alignment key 134 for allowing matability with the RJ-45 jack 126. The RJ-45 plug 120 also includes an embedded optical to electrical converter 124 used to convert electrical signals received from the second electronic device 106 to optical signals and to convert optical signals received from the hybrid cable 102 to electrical signals transmitted to the second electronic device 106. The hybrid cable 102 is discussed in more detail with reference to
As shown in this embodiment, the first optical fiber 202 includes a core region 212 that is surrounded by a cladding region 214 and an outer coating region 216. The second optical fiber 204 is substantially similar to the first optical fiber 202 and also has a core region 218 surrounded by a cladding region 220 and an outer coating region 222. In some embodiments, the core region 212 and 218 of a single-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 8 micrometers to about 10 micrometers. In other embodiments, the cladding region 214 and 220 of a single-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 120 micrometers to about 130 micrometers. In yet other embodiments, the coating region 216 and 222 of a single-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 190 micrometers to about 260 micrometers. In some embodiments, the first and second optical fibers 202 and 204, respectively, are single-mode and have dimensions as described above. In other embodiments, the optical fibers 202, 204 are multi-mode fibers. In some embodiments, the core region 212 and 218 of a multi-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 50 micrometers to about 100 micrometers. In other embodiments, the cladding region 214 and 220 of a multi-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 120 micrometers to about 140 micrometers. In yet other embodiments, the coating region 216 and 222 of a multi-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 235 micrometers to about 260 micrometers.
As shown in this embodiment, the first electrical conductor 206 includes a conductive core 224 and an insulating layer 226. The second electrical conductor 208 also contains a conductive core 228 and an insulating layer 230. In some embodiments, additional insulating layers are used. In some embodiments, the first electrical conductor 206 is used to deliver power from the first electronic device 104 to the second electronic device 106 over the hybrid cable 102 while the second electrical conductor 208 is used for ground. Types of conductive materials that are used are copper or aluminum. In other embodiments, other types of conductive materials are used. In other embodiments, the hybrid cable 102 includes reinforcing structures such as aramid yarn, fiber reinforced polymeric (e.g., epoxy) rods, or other structures.
In this embodiment, the first optical fiber 202 includes a core region 212 that is surrounded by a cladding region 214 and an outer coating region 216. The first optical fiber 202 further includes a first conductive buffer region 246 that is comprised of polymeric material with integrated conductive material so that the first conductive buffer region 246 is conductive and acts as the first electrical conductor 206. In this embodiment, as the first electrical conductor 206, the first conductive buffer region 246 carries power across the hybrid cable 102c.
The second optical fiber 204 is substantially similar to the first optical fiber 202 and also has a core region 218 surrounded by a cladding region 220 and an outer coating region 222. The second optical fiber 204 further includes a second conductive buffer region 248 that is comprised of polymeric material with integrated conductive material so that the second conductive buffer region 248 is conductive and acts as the second electrical conductor 208. In this embodiment, as the second electrical conductor 208, the second conductive buffer region 248 is the ground conductor within the hybrid cable 102c.
In some embodiments, the core region 212 and 218 of a single-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 8 micrometers to about 10 micrometers. In other embodiments, the cladding region 214 and 220 of a single-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 120 micrometers to about 130 micrometers. In yet other embodiments, the coating region 216 and 222 of a single-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 190 micrometers to about 260 micrometers. In some embodiments, the first and second optical fibers 202 and 204, respectively, are single-mode and have dimensions as described above. In other embodiments, the optical fibers 202, 204 are multi-mode fibers. In some embodiments, the core region 212 and 218 of a multi-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 50 micrometers to about 100 micrometers. In other embodiments, the cladding region 214 and 220 of a multi-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 120 micrometers to about 140 micrometers. In yet other embodiments, the coating region 216 and 222 of a multi-mode optical fiber has a diameter in the range of about 235 micrometers to about 260 micrometers.
In some embodiments, the first electrical conductor 206 within the first conductive buffer region 246 is used to deliver power from the first electronic device 104 to the second electronic device 106 over the hybrid cable 102c while the second electrical conductor 208 within the second conductive buffer region 248 is used for ground. Types of conductive materials that are used are copper or aluminum. In other embodiments, other types of conductive materials are used. In other embodiments, the hybrid cable 102c includes reinforcing structures such as aramid yarn, fiber reinforced polymeric (e.g., epoxy) rods, or other structures.
Both optical fibers 202 and 204 are connected to the optical to electrical converter 124, embedded within the RJ-45 plug 120, using first and second splices 302 and 304, respectively. The splices can be fusion splices or mechanical splices. Example mechanical splices that can be used are found in PCT/EP2013/052345, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The optical to electrical converter 124 is a small form factor pluggable transceiver embedded within the RJ-45 plug 120 and is powered by the electrical conductors 206 and 208. The optical to electrical converter 124 converts and splits the optical signals from the optical fibers 202 and 204 into a plurality of electrical signals that are then distributed across a plurality of signal contacts among a plurality of electrical contacts 306 of the RJ-45 plug 120. The optical to electrical converter 124 also converts the electrical signals received from the second electronic device 106, which are distributed across the plurality of electrical contacts 306, to optical signals and splits those optical signals which are then distributed across the first and second optical fibers 202 and 204, respectively. The optical to electrical converter 124 is discussed in more detail with reference to
In this embodiment, the RJ-45 plug 120 includes first and second splices 302 and 304, respectively. The RJ-45 plug 120 includes eight consecutively arranged first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth electrical contacts 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, 412, 414, and 416, respectively, that are electrically connected to the output of the optical to electrical converter 124 and the first and second electrical conductors 206 and 208, respectively.
In some embodiments, contacts 402 and 416 are power contacts and are electrically connected to electrical conductors 206 and 208. In higher power embodiments, contacts 404 and 414 are also used as power contacts in addition to 402 and 416. In some embodiments, contacts 406, 408, 410, and 412 are signal contacts and are electrically connected to the electrical input/output of the optical to electrical converter 124. In yet other embodiments, the first optical fiber 202 is electrically connected to the fourth and fifth electrical contacts 408 and 410, respectively, while the second optical fiber 204 is electrically connected to the third and sixth electrical contacts 406 and 412, respectively.
The first RJ-45 plug 114 is substantially similar to the second RJ-45 plug 120 and also includes first and second splices, an optical to electrical converter 118, and a plurality of electrical contacts as described herein. The first RJ-45 plug 114 also includes similar connectivity features as the second RJ-45 plug 120.
Aspects of this disclosure specifically reference the use of RJ-45 connectors, however the system described in the present disclosure can be implemented using other connectors having a form factor consistent with an RJ-45 connector. Examples of other suitable connectors are found within the family of standardized IEC 60603-7 eight pin, eight contact modular connectors.
The various embodiments described above are provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the overall intention aspects disclosed herein. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize various modifications and changes that may be made without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention aspects disclosed herein.
This application is being filed on 12 Feb. 2014, as a PCT International Patent application and claims priority to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/765,997 entitled “HYBRID POWER AND OPTICAL FIBER CABLE,” filed Feb. 18, 2013, and U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 61/766,001 entitled “HYBRID POWER AND OPTICAL FIBER CABLE WITH CONDUCTIVE BUFFER TUBE,” filed Feb. 18, 2013, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US14/15969 | 2/12/2014 | WO | 00 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61765997 | Feb 2013 | US | |
| 61766001 | Feb 2013 | US |
