Patent Application
20140075213
1. Field
The exemplary embodiments described herein relate to a connection apparatus and system that facilitate connection of network components in a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) configuration.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a growing demand in the industry to find a solution to transmit voice, data, or video from a headend to a subscriber's premises through a fiber optic network all the way into an individual home or business. Such fiber optic networks generally are referred to as fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP), fiber-to-the-business (FTTB), fiber-to-the-node (FTTN), or fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) networks and the like, depending on the specific application of interest. Such types of networks are also referred to herein generally as “FTTx networks”.
In a FTTx network, equipment at a headend or central office couples the FTTx to external services such as a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or an external network. Signals received from these services are converted into optical signals and are transmitted using a single optical fiber at a plurality of wavelengths, with each wavelength defining a channel within the FTTx network.
In a FTTP network the optical signals are transmitted through the FTTP network to an optical splitter that splits the optical signals and transmits each individual optical signal over a single optical fiber to a subscriber's premises. At the subscriber's premises, the optical signal is converted into at least one electrical signal using an Optical Network Terminal (ONT). The ONT may split the resultant electrical signal into separate services required by the subscriber such as computer networking (data), telephony and video.
In FTTC and FTTN networks the optical signal is converted to at least one electrical signal by either an Optical Network Unit (ONU) (FTTC) or a Remote Terminal (RT) (FTTN), before being provided to a subscriber's premises.
A typical FTTx network, as shown in
In a FTTN network, such as that shown in
OLTs communicate with ONTs (in the case of a FTTP network), or ONUs (in the case of a FTTC network) using the ONT Management and Control Interface (OMCI) control protocol as specified in ITU-T G.983.2 and ITU-T G.984.4. An OMCI Management Information Base (MIB), included in each device communicating using the OMCI protocol, defines the format of messages exchanged using the OMCI protocol.
An OLT can send an OMCI control message that controls an ONT or OLT to provide a service (e.g., a voice, data, and/or video service) by establishing a connection through which data is delivered from the OLT to CPE via the ONT or ONU. The ONT or ONU can send the OLT OMCI notification messages to notify the OLT of alarms.
Typically, the OMCI MIBs of OLTs and ONTs/ONUs are matched to define message formats in the same manner so that a message sent by one device can be properly processed by the receiving device. Otherwise, if the OMCI MIBs of OLTs and ONTs/ONUs define message formats differently, thus creating a MIB mismatch, a message sent by one device may not be supported by the receiving device. Typically, if an OLT, ONT, or ONU does not support a received message, the device may reject the entire message.
In a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network configuration, such as that shown in
Typically, a plurality of ONTs 104 are connected to the fiber splitter 106 and the power supply 108. As shown in
The fiber splitter 106 is connected to an optical line terminal (OLT) 112 by a fiber optic connection 113, and the OLT 112 is in communication with an element management system (EMS) 114. EMS 114 can control and monitor various network elements, such as the ONTs 104. For example, the EMS 114 can monitor and configure communication services delivered to the ONTs 104. EMS 114 may be deployed for network applications, and can include hardware and software that enables an operator to monitor, control, and generally manage the network through a suitable user-interface, such as a Graphical User Interface (GUI). Although not shown in
The centralized power supply 108 is controlled by a power supply management system 110 that is separate from the EMS 114. Power supply management system 110 may be deployed for power supply applications, and can include hardware and software that enables an operator to monitor, control, and generally manage the power delivered to network elements, such as ONT 104, through a suitable user-interface, such as a Graphical User Interface (GUI). The power supply management system 110 manages the power supply arrangements between the power supply 108 and each ONT 104. The power transmission from the power supply 108 to each ONT 104 can be conventional direct current power transmission or power-over-ethernet (POE), in which case, the ONT's 104 can communicate over POE to the power supply 108.
The power supply 108 is typically connected to the power supply management system 110 by a craft interface (e.g., a local connection), or a networked interface (e.g., via an Ethernet interface). For example, a local connection can be made by connecting a personal computer (PC) to the power supply 108 using an RS232 cable and a serial communication protocol. The personal computer displays a graphical user interface to manage the configuration of the power supply 108. In the case of a networked interface, such personal computer can be connected remotely to a computer network that is connected to the power supply 108 so that the graphical user interface can be used to manage the configuration of the power supply 108.
In such a typical FTTP deployment described in
Also, in a typical FTTP deployment, the centralized power supply 108 may be connected to hundreds of pairs of such jumper wires 105, which are not bundled together. Because of the large numbers of jumper wires terminating at the power supply 108, it can be difficult and time consuming to install and troubleshoot the jumper wiring due to a lack of wire management. The above and other limitations associated with the foregoing may be overcome by an apparatus and system in accordance with aspects described herein.
According to an example aspect of the invention a network connection apparatus and system are described. The network connection apparatus includes a network interface for connection to a communication network, at least one power interface for connection to a powered network device, and at least one communication interface for connection to the powered network device. The communication interface is communicatively coupled to the network interface through a splitter. The network connection apparatus includes a bus connected to the at least one power interface, and a power supply electrically connected to the bus to supply power to the at least one power interface. The network connection apparatus may also include a communication terminal connected to the bus and to the splitter.
The teachings claimed and/or described herein are further described in terms of exemplary embodiments. These exemplary embodiments are described in detail with reference to the drawings. These embodiments are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, wherein:
Exemplary embodiments herein relate to an apparatus and system using a network connection apparatus. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize in view of this description that the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the exemplary embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.
The connection apparatus 202 includes a plurality of pairs of connection interfaces 206/208 that can be connected to ONTs 104 via hybrid cable 100. For example, there can be 32 or 64 pairs of connection interfaces 206/208 on the connection apparatus 202 for connection to corresponding number of ONTs 104, though only one ONT 104 is shown connected in
In the example embodiment shown in
Within housing 210, the connection apparatus 202 includes a power supply 220, a fiber splitter 222, a terminal management unit 224, and a circuit board 226. The fiber splitter 222 has a fiber connection 229 that communicatively couples fiber splitter 222 with connection interface 216. Fiber 213 connects between connection interface 216 and OLT 212. The fiber splitter 222 also is communicatively coupled to the terminal management unit 224, and at least some of the connection interfaces 206, which are coupled to some of the ONTs 104. The fiber splitter 222 is constructed to route data bi-directionally.
The terminal management unit 224, in one embodiment, is an x-Passive Optical Network (xPON) terminal, where x can be a G, E, or ATM. In such an embodiment, the terminal management unit 224 is treated like another of the ONTs 104 for purposes of communication with the EMS 214 and OLT 112, and is constructed to communicate with the EMS 214 through the fiber splitter 222 and the OLT 112. As a result of such communications with the EMS 214, the terminal management unit 224 is able to communicate information to the EMS 214 and OLT 112 related to the status of the power connection interfaces 208 and the data connection interfaces 206.
The circuit board 226 includes a bus 230 that is connected to the power supply 220, the terminal management unit 224, and to a central control unit 232. The circuit board 226 can be constructed, for example, as a printed circuit board. The power supply 220 is constructed to be electrically powered, such as by a power source capable of delivering 110/240 VAC or 48VDC. The central control unit 232 is connected through a power bus 231 to one or more power circuits 234, each of which is each connected to one or more connection interfaces 208 located at panel 212 of the connection apparatus 202.
The circuit board 226 also includes a data bus 236 that is connected to the power supply 220, the terminal management unit 224, and the central control unit 232. The central control unit 232 is constructed to receive, via the data bus 236, from the terminal management unit 224, commands generated by the EMS 214 or the OLT 112. In response to the commands it receives, the central control unit 232 can control the power supply 220 and power circuits 234 to regulate the distribution of power to each power connection interface 208 as described below.
Various protocols can be used for communication between the EMS 214, OLT 212, terminal management unit 224, and central control unit 232. Such protocols can include, for example, SNMP, Corba, XML, or any other suitable protocol. The communication between the terminal management unit 224 and the central control unit 232 can include chipset register operations. For example, the terminal management unit 224 can write a specific value to a register of the central control unit 224, and the central control unit 232 can use the written value to perform an operation, such as to send an output value to the power circuits 234.
The commands received by the central control unit 232 from the terminal management unit 224 can include a command to the power supply 220 to set the output voltage and/or current of one or more connection interfaces 208 and a command to shutdown/enable the power output to one or more connections 208. For example, the EMS 214 can be configured to store power output limits for each power connection interface 208. The EMS 214 can remotely manage the power distributed to each power connection interface 208 so that the power delivered is within the configured limits.
The central control unit 232 can monitor the status of each connection interface 208, such as by monitoring the load through each connection interface 208. The EMS 214 receives information from the central control unit 232 about the status of each power connection interface 208 and sends commands to the central control unit 232 in response to the received information. For example, the central control unit 232 can sense the output voltage and current in each power connection interface 208 and the sensed values can be sent and used by the EMS 214. In response to the sensed voltage and current values, for example, the EMS 214 can send a command to the central control unit 232 to set a power level for one or more power connection interfaces 208.
In at least one embodiment, the central control unit 232 can be constructed as a hardware processor having registers in which are stored values received from the terminal management unit 224 via the data bus 236. Such a processor can access the stored values and execute one or more processes based on those values. Also, in at least one other embodiment, the central control unit 232 can be constructed as a processor having registers where the processor can interpret commands received from the terminal management unit 232 and can write to the registers based on the result of the interpreted commands. In one example embodiment, the central control unit 232 can adjust the power level for each power connection interface 208 up to 30 Watts by regulating the output voltage up to 60 Volts.
Various methods of communicating between the central control unit 232 and the power circuits 234 can be employed. For example, the power circuits 234 can be constructed with a processor and registers which can be written to by the central control unit 232. The registers can be accessed by the processor of the power circuit 234 to control the power regulated to the connection interfaces 208.
In one embodiment, the central control unit 232 may also be constructed to monitor and control the power supply 220 independently of a command from the EMS 214. For example, if communication is interrupted between the connection apparatus 202 and the EMS 214, the central control unit 232 can detect the lost communication and take a predetermined action to preserve service to ONTs 104, such as to maintain all power levels just prior to the fault or to set a default power level to all of the connection interfaces 208. Also, if there is a fault in the wiring 103 between the connection apparatus 202 and one of the ONTs 104, the sensed voltage and current values may be used to trigger an alarm configured in the EMS 214.
Another example aspect herein relates to the use of a plurality of pairs of wires in place of each twisted copper pair 103 shown in
One advantage of using the plurality of pairs of wires (362, 364, 366, and 368) to distribute power to the ONT 104 is that the physical distance between the ONT 104 and the connection apparatus 202 can be larger, for example up to ten times than that of using a single twisted pair of wires.
In operation, processor 302 loads the program instructions 310b from the storage device 310 into the memory 304. Processor 302 then executes the loaded program instructions 310b to perform any of the example techniques described herein, for operating the data processing system 300 (which can represent the construction of one or more of ONTs 104, OLT 112, connection apparatus 202, and other devices supporting a control protocol).
In the foregoing description, specific example embodiments of the invention are described. Although described in the context of ONTs, ONUs, and OLTs, in other embodiments, the described methods can be performed by RTs, NTs, or any other types of network devices. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto, in a computer program product or software, hardware, or any combination thereof, without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the example embodiments of the invention described herein.
Example software embodiments herein, if any, may be provided as a computer program product, or software, that may include an article of manufacture on a machine-accessible or machine-readable medium (memory) having instructions. The instructions on the machine-accessible or machine-readable medium may be used to program a computer system or other electronic device. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks or other types of media/machine-readable media suitable for storing or transmitting electronic instructions. The techniques described herein are not limited to any particular software configuration. They may find applicability in any computing or processing environment. The terms “machine-accessible medium” or “machine-readable medium” used herein, if at all, shall include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or transmitting a sequence of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one of the methods described herein. Furthermore, it is common in the art to speak of software, in one form or another (e.g., program, procedure, process, application, module, unit, logic, and so on) as taking an action or causing a result. Such expressions are merely a shorthand way of stating that the execution of the software by a processing system causes the processor to perform an action to produce a result. In other example embodiments, functions performed by software can instead be performed by hardcoded modules, and thus example embodiments herein are not limited only for use with stored software programs.
In addition, it should be understood that the figures illustrated in the attached drawings, which highlight the functionality and advantages of the example embodiments described herein, are presented for example purposes only. The architecture of the example embodiments of the invention described herein is sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized (and navigated) in ways other than that shown in the accompanying figures.
Although example aspects have been described in certain specific example embodiments, many additional modifications and variations would be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore to be understood that the example embodiments described herein may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. Thus, these example embodiments of the invention should be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/CN2012/081247 | Sep 2012 | US |
| Child | 13744226 | US |
