Patent Application
20090015204
A telecommunications network typically includes a number of network terminals, such as an optical network terminal (ONT), that provide a communications interface between subscriber terminals and an external network. The network terminals can be configured to support communications signals between the external network and corresponding subscriber terminals, as well as provide communications using Ethernet, Internet, fiber optics, or other communications protocols.
An optical network terminal is typically powered by an external power source, such as alternating current (AC) mains, but also includes a battery backup unit (BBU) for powering the unit in case of failure of the external power source. The optical network terminal monitors the BBU to ensure that the battery is present and sufficiently charged. If a battery is absent or not operational, the optical network terminal provides a battery alarm, indicating to a network operator or craft person a battery fault that can be resolved by repairing or replacing a battery at the optical network terminal.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a method or apparatus for managing operations associated with a backup power source at a network terminal. A network terminal may include a battery port that, when enabled, is configured to monitor status of a battery coupled to the battery port and provide a status indicator indicating presence or status of the battery. The network terminal also includes an interface with selectable states, such as a pushbutton or switch. Further, a control circuit is coupled to the battery port and interface to detect the state of the interface and presence of a battery at the battery port. In response to the interface being in a given state in an absence of a battery coupled to the battery port, the control circuit may be configured to disable reporting of information related to the battery. The battery port substantially continues to disable the reporting over reset, loss of power or reconfiguration of the network terminal. If the control circuit detects the presence of a battery at the battery port, it responds by entering an enabled state to monitor the status of the battery and provide battery status indicators.
The foregoing will be apparent from the following more particular description of example embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating embodiments of the present invention.
A description of example embodiments of the invention follows.
A network terminal, such as an Optical Network Terminal (ONT), typically includes a battery backup unit (BBU) having a battery port and a battery. In some applications, a number of network terminals may be implemented at a central location, such as a common rack or enclosure. In such an implementation, a network terminal may not require a battery at the network terminal itself. For example, the network terminals may be powered by an external power supply unit that includes a battery backup unit (BBU), thereby providing backup power to the network terminals. Moreover, a particular application may not permit the network terminal to include a battery. The network terminals may, for example, be implemented in a way that prevents access to a battery, such as within a sealed enclosure. Without access to maintain a battery at the network terminal, use of a battery at the network terminal may be prohibited.
For the example reasons above, it may be beneficial to provide a network terminal without a battery. However, in the absence of a battery, the battery port or network terminal, depending on how intelligence is distributed, transmits a corresponding alarm (e.g., “loss of battery backup power” or “missing battery” alarms), which is unnecessary or erroneous in applications where the battery is intentionally omitted. In systems having a number of network terminals, the alarms may be problematic and detract from management of the system, for example by saturating a network administration console with such alarms. Further, the battery port may also be configured to charge a battery, and therefore may unnecessarily consume power in the absence of a battery.
Some embodiments of the present invention provide a method or apparatus for managing operations associated with a backup power source at a network terminal. A network terminal may include a battery port that, when enabled, is configured to monitor status of a battery coupled to the battery port and provide a status indicator for the battery. The network terminal also includes an interface with selectable states, such as a pushbutton or switch. Further, a control circuit is coupled to the battery port and interface to detect a state of the interface and presence of a battery at the battery port. In response to the interface being in a given state in an absence of a battery coupled to the battery port, the control circuit may disable reporting of information related to the battery. Likewise, the control circuit may cause the battery port to enter or remain in a disabled state with respect to reporting information related to the battery or other operations. The battery port substantially continues to disable the reporting (and, optionally, maintain the disabled state) over reset, loss of power, or reconfiguration of the network terminal. If the control circuit detects the presence of a battery, it responds by entering an enabled state to monitor the status of the battery and provide battery status indicators.
In further embodiments of the invention, the battery port may include a battery charger and battery status monitor. The battery status monitor may detect presence and power level of a battery and provide alarms in response to detecting the absence of a battery or low power level of a battery. The control circuit may also cause the battery port to enter a disabled state in response to the interface being in a given state in the absence of a battery connected to the battery port. Such a disabled state may include disabling the battery charger and alarms while continuing to detect the presence of a battery. The control circuit may also be configured to refrain from disabling the reporting in response to detecting presence of a battery at the battery port.
Embodiments of the invention may include an interface, such as a pushbutton, that maintains the active state when pushed continuously, and is inactive when not pushed. The control circuit may provide an audible indication upon disabling or enabling reporting of information related to the battery. A configuration associated with the disabled state may be stored to a non-volatile memory such that the configuration can be maintained over reconfiguration, reset, or loss of power to the network terminal. The control circuit may modify the configuration in response to detecting a battery at the battery port.
The network terminals 120a-c may be monitored and controlled by a network administrator console (not shown), which may communicate with the terminals 120a-c across the network 140, via subscriber lines 170, or other communications path (not shown). The network administrator console may monitor the status of each terminal 120a-c by receiving alarms and other status indicators, as well as configure and control each terminal 120a-c.
In this example network, the network terminals 120a-c are powered by a common power supply unit (PSU) 150. The PSU 150 receives external power 152 from an external power source, such as line power, and may provide direct current (DC) 154, or alternating current (AC) power if the network terminals 120a-c are equipped with AC-to-DC converters, to the network terminals 120a-c. The PSU 150 also includes a battery backup unit (BBU) 155, which the PSU 150 may manage and utilize for power in circumstances where external power (e.g., 120V AC) is lost. Likewise, the network terminals 120a-c each have a battery slot 135a-c for receiving batteries (not shown) at the network terminals 120a-c. Yet because the PSU 150 includes the battery backup unit 155, batteries or BBUs are not included at the network terminals 120a-c.
In normal operation, the battery port 230 converts AC power 252 from the external power source to provide DC power 254 to the control circuit 260 and the network board 265. If the external power 252 is interrupted or sufficiently attenuated, then the battery port 230 may instead draw power from a battery at the battery slot 235. However, in some implementations, the battery port 230 may receive an external power source having a battery backup, such as the PSU 150 with battery backup 155 shown in
Moreover, other applications may require omitting a battery from the network terminal 220. With reference to
Omitting a battery at the network terminal 220, however, may have a number of adverse effects. In normal operation, in at least one example implementation, the battery port 230 is configured to detect the presence and charge level of a battery at the battery slot 235. If the battery is omitted as shown, the battery port 230 may transmit a “no battery” alarm or message to the control circuit 260 or network board 265, which may be directed or forwarded to a network administrator console (not shown) to notify a network administrator or craft person. This alarm or message, being a false alarm or message in a sense that the network terminal 220 is intentionally configured without a battery, may detract from network administration. In an application with several network terminals transmitting a “no battery” alarm or message (e.g., network terminals 120a-c in
According to an example embodiment of the invention, the control circuit 260 addresses problems, as described above, occurring in configurations in which the network terminal 220 is intentionally operating without a battery at the battery slot 235. The control circuit 260 receives the state of an interface 270, such as a pushbutton 270, which may be mechanically accessible from outside the network terminal 220 or via a wired, wireless or optical interface (not shown) configured in any number of ways to accept craft person or user input as known in the art. The control circuit 260 may also receive, from the battery port 230, an indication of whether a battery is coupled to the battery port 230. The network board 265 may also communicate with the control circuit 260, indicating operational status of the network terminal 220. Based on the interface (e.g., pushbutton) 270 state, battery status and operational status, the control circuit 260 may configure or reset the configuration of the battery port 230. For example, the control circuit 260 can be configured (i.e., learn that the network terminal 220 is to operate without a battery intentionally) such that, if 1) the network terminal 220 is initializing, 2) the pushbutton is depressed for a given length of time during the initializing, and 3) a battery is not present at the battery port, then the control circuit 260 configures the battery port 230 to enter a disabled state so that it doesn't generate alarms or messages that a battery is not connected to it. It should be understood that other sequences of operations or direct configurations may also be defined to “teach” the control circuit 260 (or other circuit used for this purpose) that the network terminal 220 is to operate without a battery connected to its battery port 230.
In a disabled state, one or more functions of the battery port 230 may be disabled, including, for example, the disabling or silencing of battery-related alarms or messages and the disabling of an integral battery charger. Other functions or circuitry of the battery port 230, particularly those that are unused or redundant in the absence of a battery, may also be disabled in the disabled state. However, the battery port 230 in a disabled state may still perform other functions, including routing external power to other components of the network terminal 220, converting the external power as required by the network terminal 220 (e.g., AC-to-DC conversion), monitoring the external power, monitoring the presence of a battery, and communicating with the network board 265 and control circuit 270. Alternatively, one or more of the above functions may be performed by circuitry external from the battery port 230, such as by the control circuit 260 or network board 265.
Once the battery port 230 or control circuit 260 has entered the disabled state with respect to battery alarms, messaging, charging or other battery-related activities, it maintains the disabled state until a given event occurs. For example, the battery port 230 can terminate the disabled state, thereby entering an enabled state, upon detecting a battery being connected to the battery port 230. In the enabled state, the battery port 230 may resume normal operation, including monitoring the presence and charge level of the battery, charging the battery, and communicating battery status, alarms, or messages to the control circuit 260 or other module. However, the battery port 230 may be configured to maintain the disabled state until the given event (e.g., detecting a battery), regardless of other events that occur. For example, the disabled state may be maintained over reset, loss of power, reconfiguration of the network terminal, and/or other events affecting the battery port 230. To maintain the disabled state through such events, the battery port 230 may include a non-volatile memory or other storage device (not shown) to store an indication of the disabled state, to which the battery port 230 or control circuit 260 can refer. Thus, the battery port 230 may be considered to enter the disabled state on a substantially permanent or semi-permanent basis.
It should be understood that the example embodiment may include a distributed or centralized intelligence and that more, or fewer, or combinations of the blocks (e.g., control circuit 260 and battery port 230) may be combined physically or logically. For example, the control circuit may be disabled with respect to generating or sending alarms or messages to other units, or the battery port may be disabled from generating the alarms or messages. Alternatively, the battery port may not be so disabled but the control circuit 260 filters the alarms or messages from being sent to another device or presented as an audible alarm. For readability, other descriptions herein may refer to the battery port 230 as being disabled from generating alarms or messages in an event no battery is connected to it, but it should be understood that the control circuit 260 or other circuits may instead or in addition be disabled and enabled, as described herein.
If a battery is not detected at the battery port 230, then the battery port 230 continues to maintain a disabled state (345). If the battery port 230 detects a battery, then it enables the battery charger, alarms and other functions disabled while in the disabled state (355). Thus, the battery port 230 may be considered to terminate the disabled state upon detecting a battery. The battery port 230 may terminate the disabled state independent of the control circuit 260 or network board 265, or may report the presence of a battery to the control circuit 260, which, in turn, controls the battery port 230 to terminate the disabled state.
With reference to
For reasons described above, a battery may be omitted from the network terminal 220. In such a case, the battery port 230 fails to detect a battery during power-up (or other state detection of a battery is checked in connection with the battery or non-battery configuration). Under normal operation, the battery port 230 may respond to the absence of a battery by emitting an alarm or other indicator, which may be audible, visual, or transmitted through the network board 265 to notify a network administrator. However, in response to the pushbutton 270 being held in an active state during initialization, the control circuit 260 controls the battery port 230 to disable one or more battery-related functions, such as network alarms, audible alarms, or the battery charger (330). The battery port 230 thus enters a disabled state. Upon entering the disabled state, the battery port 230 or other circuit may emit a confirmation tone or other cue to indicate the disabled state (335). Upon hearing the confirmation tone, the user or craft person may release the pushbutton 270 from the active state (340). The user or craft person has thus completed configuring the network terminal 220 to operate in the absence of a battery, disabling one or more functions of the battery port 230.
Once the battery port 230 enters the disabled state under the above process, it may maintain the disabled state on a substantially permanent or semi-permanent basis (345). The battery port 230 may maintain the disabled state independently via an internal configuration or control, or may be controlled continuously, periodically, or aperiodically by the control circuit 260 to maintain the disabled state. Data indicating the disabled state configuration may be stored to non-volatile memory (not shown) at the network terminal 220. The battery port 230 or control circuit 260 may refer to this data in maintaining the disabled state. As a result, the battery port 230 may maintain the disabled state through reset, reconfiguration and loss of power to the network terminal 220.
While maintaining the disabled state, the battery port 230 detects for the presence of a battery being coupled to the battery port 230 (350). If no battery is detected, the battery port 230 continues to maintain the disabled state, and further detects for a battery periodically, continuously, or when prompted to do so (350).
In some applications, after operating without an internal battery backup, the network terminal 220 may require a battery to be coupled to the battery port 230. Thus, a user may install a battery at the battery slot 235 while the battery port 230 is in a disabled state. In response, the battery port 230 detects the battery and may send a battery detection indicator to the control circuit 260. The control circuit then controls the battery port to enter an enabled state, enabling one or more of the battery charger, alarms or other functions disabled in the disabled state (355). Alternatively, the battery port 230 may respond to detecting the battery by entering the enabled state independently from the control circuit 260. By terminating the disabled state, the battery port 230 enters normal operation with respect to the battery, for example detecting charge level of the battery, charging the battery, and indicating status and alarms relative to the battery.
Alternatively, the network terminal 220 can be configured to enter an enabled state under other conditions. For example, the disabled state of the battery port 230 may be configured such that it is not maintained following one or more of the following conditions: reconfiguration, reset or loss of power to the network terminal. Moreover, an additional user interface (not shown), such as a pushbutton or switch, may enable a user to terminate manually the disabled state of the battery port 230. In a further embodiment employing such a user interface, the battery port 230 may also disable battery detection while in the disabled state. Thus, with reference to
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While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to example embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.
It should be understood that the flow diagrams of
