Patent Application
20120072137
Communication networks require a variety of auxiliary equipment that facilitate the transfer of data as well as the testing or monitoring of network performance. These networks may include circuits with media lines for conveying media signals, which extend from a service provider through one or more junctions before ultimately terminating at a user facility. Typically, communication networks may utilize a patch panel or patch bay, which is a device in which temporary connections can be made between incoming lines and outgoing lines. In addition to acting as a junction, a patch panel may provide for the monitoring of data such as media signals by interconnecting and providing for circuit testing in a convenient manner. Patch panels may be rack mounted units that house a multitude of connections for a number of circuits. The circuits are typically connected to the patch panel with jumpers, and the circuits are manually identified with printed sticky backed or other exteriorly adhered labeling.
The current method of manually labeling the media lines entering and leaving the patch panel is ineffective, time consuming and unreliable as the labels fall off, leaving a media line unidentified. These unidentified media lines may ultimately result in stranded and unused bandwidth, which could be utilized by the end user or the service provider.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a robust approach for automatic and continuous monitoring of a simple media patch panel while recording and uploading the information to a database effectively and reliably.
While the claims are not limited to the illustrated examples, an appreciation of various aspects is best gained through a discussion of various examples thereof. Referring now to the drawings, illustrative examples are shown in detail. Although the drawings represent the various examples, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated to better illustrate and explain an innovative aspect of an example. Further, the examples set forth herein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limiting or restricting to the precise form and configuration shown in the drawings and disclosed in the following detailed description.
Exemplary illustrations of the present invention are described in detail by referring to the drawings as follow:
Various exemplary illustrations of communication interface monitoring jumpers are disclosed for use in measuring circuits with electrical or optical signals, such as with communication networks. One exemplary interface is a patch panel in the form of a device in which temporary connections can be made between components with incoming and outgoing data flow signals. The patch panel may be used for modifying or reconfiguring a communications network or for connecting devices such as test instruments to specific lines. An exemplary patch panel may include a rack mount cabinet or enclosure, a media line interconnected to the patch panel, a jumper for monitoring and measuring resistivity or impedance at communication media connecting patch points, a multiplexer (MX) for serially encoding the measured information an analog to digital converter (ADC) may be used to convert analog signals to digital signals and a selector may be used to select which monitoring jumper is monitored or encoded and may be controlled by the computer. In general, monitoring a patch panel configuration may be accomplished by measuring the resistivity or impedance of a monitoring jumper that connect the component to the patch panel through two corresponding patch points in the component and the patch panel. It should be noted that the measurement hardware requires a small current to be sourced (at the point where the ADC connects) to enable the measurement of the monitoring jumper (r=v/i). Connecting the patch points of the panel to a connector using a small insulating conductor facilitates the measurement of conductivity between the patch points. Few or no active components are required on the patch panel depending on the connector type used.
Labeling of the individual monitoring jumper occurs by encoding the monitoring jumper jacket or other conductive element forming a component of the monitoring jumper with a resistivity by altering the material composition or providing a conductive path between the end points of the monitoring jumper. The monitoring jumper connectors may also be used to make a connection to the small insulating conductor attached to the connector. A laptop or other device is attached to the connector and records the monitoring jumper connection configuration pattern. The configuration pattern may then be transferred to a management system and stored in a database.
An exemplary method may include inserting a media line into a communication socket or patch point of an existing patch panel, inserting a monitoring jumper having a conductive element across the patch panel patch socket, measuring the impedance or conductivity across the monitoring jumper, encoding the conductive element with an electronic or digital label, recording the monitoring jumper connection pattern within a database, and transferring the database to a management system. Additionally, the method may further include attaching a multiplexer and an ADC to the connection between the patch panel and monitoring jumper.
An exemplary patch panel monitoring system may include an exemplary conductive monitoring jumper that may be used with any network, system or device, etc., that generally employs at least one communication media line, such as, but not limited to a lead, a wire, a cable, a connector, or other conduit for providing communication between a first component and any other mating component, e.g., elements of a network, system, device or the like. The conductive monitoring jumper may have standard media end connectors affixed on opposing ends. The standard media end connectors may be insulating conductors of a type that may be attached to the monitoring jumpers for connecting the monitoring jumper to the patch panel or other communication media device. The monitoring jumper may include a fiber jacket or other conductive element that extends between the end connector that is encoded with a serial value based on the resistivity, which provides a conductive path between the first end connector and an opposing end connector. The connector ends of the monitoring jumper may be attached to a variety of test instruments, such as, but not limited to a measurement computer, multi-meters, oscilloscopes or any other known instrument used in measuring voltage or impedance.
Turning now to
The network 100 may include a plurality of communication switching hubs 108 that may include at least one patch panel 110 and a monitoring jumper 120 (see
Additionally,
In general, computing systems (e.g., an illustrative example of monitoring device 140) and/or devices, such as database server housing database 142 and a management system in the form of a computer database stored on a storage media in at least one of the database 142 and the monitoring device 140. The management system may employ any of a number of well known computer operating systems, including, but by no means limited to, known versions and/or varieties of the Microsoft Windows® operating system, the Unix operating system (e.g., the Solaris® operating system distributed by Sun Microsystems of Menlo Park, Calif.), the AIX UNIX operating system distributed by International Business Machines of Armonk, N.Y., and the Linux operating system. Examples of computing devices may include, without limitation, a computer workstation, a server, a desktop, notebook, laptop, or handheld computer, or some other known computing system and/or device.
Computing devices generally include computer-executable instructions, where the instructions may be executable by one or more computing devices such as those listed above. Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of well known programming languages and/or technologies, including, without limitation, and either alone or in combination, Java™, C, C++, Visual Basic, Java Script, Perl, etc. In general, a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, a computer-readable medium, etc., and executes these instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Such instructions and other data may be stored and transmitted using a variety of known computer-readable media.
A computer-readable medium (also referred to as a processor-readable medium) includes any non-transitory (e.g., tangible) medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read by a computer (e.g., by a processor of a computer). Such a medium may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media may include, for example, optical or magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media may include, for example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes a main memory. Such instructions may be transmitted by one or more transmission media, including coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled to a processor of a computer. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read.
Databases, data repositories or other data stores described herein, with respect to monitoring device 140 and database 142, may include various kinds of mechanisms for storing, accessing, and retrieving various kinds of data, including a hierarchical database, a set of files in a file system, an application database in a proprietary format, a relational database management system (RDBMS), etc. Each such data store is generally included within a computing device employing a computer operating system, such as one of those mentioned above, and are accessed via a network in any one or more of a variety of manners, as is known. A file system may be accessible from a computer operating system and may include files stored in various formats. An RDBMS generally employs the known Structured Query Language (SQL) in addition to a language for creating, storing, editing, and executing stored procedures, such as the PL/SQL language mentioned above.
In some examples, system elements may be implemented as computer-readable instructions (e.g., software) on one or more computing devices (e.g., servers, personal computers, etc.), stored on computer readable media associated therewith (e.g., disks, memories, etc.). A computer program product may comprise such instructions stored on computer readable media for carrying out the functions described herein.
Turning to
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Additionally, the exteriorly positioned conductive element 230 may also be made solely of a conductive jacket 236 with or without a conductive core 232, as illustrated in
Proceeding now to
Process 300 may then proceed to block 304. In block 304, the technician may position a monitoring jumper 120, 220 between the patch panel 110 and a measurement device 140, connecting the two and physically associating the monitoring jumper 120, 220 with the connected path. The monitoring jumper 120, 220 may include a conductive element in the form of a conductive jacket 128 impregnated with a conductive element and affixed directly to the media 126; a conductive element 230 having a conductive core 232 and a protective jacket 234 positioned exteriorly of a media portion 226; and a conductive element 230 having a conductive core 232 and a protective jacket 236 that may be conductive and the conductive element 230 may be positioned exteriorly of the media portion 226.
In block 306, the technician may retrieve a conductivity configuration directly from the connected path. The conductivity retrieved may be at least one of a resistance or impedance measured from the monitoring jumper 120, 220 connection. The connection is not limited to any specific device, but can be of any known media connection between two devices provided the media includes the previously discussed conductive elements. In some instances, as previously discussed, a selector 170, a multiplexer 150 and an analog to digital converter 160 may be attached to the patch panel 110. When the selector 170 is used, the technician connects the measuring computer device 140 with the monitoring jumper 120, 220 to connect the two points. The selector allows the technician to extend the number of points measured beyond the number of pins on the physical connector 125, 200 on the computer by switching between attached devices. This allows the technician to monitor multiple devices on a patch panel 110.
Upon retrieval of the configuration, the process may proceed to block 308 where the measuring device assigns a label to the monitoring jumper 120, 220 by encoding the conductive portion of the monitoring jumper 120, 220 with the multiplexer or other known device. The encoding assigns a value to mark the specific circuit for later identification. Once the monitoring jumper 120, 220 is encoded with the specific value, the process may proceed to block 310, where the technician may transfer the configuration to a database 142. The database 142 may be a separate device from the measurement device 140 or an integral part of the measurement device 140. It should be known that the storage of the configuration to the database may take place before or after labeling as defined in block 308 or it may simultaneously with the labeling.
Once the configuration is stored in the database 142, the process proceeds to block 312 where the technician may utilize a predetermined management system to monitor and manage the configurations of a plurality of monitoring jumpers 120, 220 within one database 142. The monitoring allows the technician to control an unlimited number of monitoring jumpers 120, 220. Additionally, it should be known that once the specific monitoring jumper 120, 220 is removed, this signifies to the technician that the specific patch panel 110 socket 112 is free, allowing new devices to be implemented or to free any bandwidth for other devices still attached to the patch panel 110.
An exemplary method may include providing a media network having a plurality of media lines; inserting the media line into a communication socket; connecting the communication socket to a patch panel; inserting a monitoring jumper across a patch socket in a patch panel; connecting a measurement device to the monitoring jumper; taking a measurement from the monitoring jumper; labeling the monitoring jumper with an electronic label; recording the monitoring jumper configuration pattern; and transferring the configuration pattern, including electronic label, to a database. The method may further include providing a management system to the database; measuring at least one of an impedance and a conductivity of the monitoring jumper; and encoding a conductive monitoring jumper with a serial value for the electronic labeling. Additionally, the method may include attaching at least one of a multiplexer and an analog to digital converter to the patch panel patch socket; and converting the measurement from analog to digital.
Reference in the specification to “one example,” “an example,” “one embodiment,” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the example is included in at least one example. The phrase “in one example” in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same example each time it appears.
With regard to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claimed invention.
Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided would be apparent upon reading the above description. The scope of the invention should be determined, not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the arts discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the invention is capable of modification and variation and is limited only by the following claims.
All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadest reasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood by those skilled in the art unless an explicit indication to the contrary in made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,” “the,” “the,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.
