Core extraction assessment
AssigneeCable Television Laboratories, Inc.
InventorsLuis Alberto Campos, Thomas Holtzman Williams, Zhensheng Jia
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Generating an assessment of the suitability of cables, ducts, tubes, pipes and/or other hollow-type of conduits to extraction of cores, conductors, insulation, etc. included therein while still buried in the ground or otherwise positioned out-of-sight so as to be unavailable for visual and/or physical inspection is contemplated. The assessment may be used to indicate a suitability of a cable buried in the ground of a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) cable plant to extraction of the type whereby a core of the cable may be extracted using hydraulics while still buried.
Claims20
A method for assessing suitability of a cable buried in the ground to a hydraulic extraction of the type whereby a core of the cable is extracted using hydraulics, the method comprising:
- electronically measuring signaling characteristics for signaling communicated through the cable while buried;
- processing the signaling characteristics to generate an assessment, the assessment representing suitability of the cable for the hydraulic extraction;
- and
- indicating with the assessment the cable being one of suitable and unsuitable for the hydraulic extraction depending on physical characteristics of the cable derived from the signaling characteristics, including indicating the cable as suitable when the physical characteristics indicate an angularity measured between a first portion and a second portion of an outer shield surrounding the core exceeds an angularity threshold and indicating the cable as unsuitable when the angularity is below the angularity threshold.
A method for assessing suitability of a cable buried in the ground to a hydraulic extraction of the type whereby a core of the cable is extracted using hydraulics, the method comprising:
- electronically measuring signaling characteristics for signaling communicated through the cable while buried;
- processing the signaling characteristics to generate an assessment, the assessment representing suitability of the cable for the hydraulic extraction;
- and
- indicating with the assessment the cable being one of suitable and unsuitable for the hydraulic extraction depending on physical characteristics of the cable derived from the signaling characteristics, including indicating the cable as suitable when the physical characteristics indicate a circularity continuously measured between a first portion and a second potion of an outer shield surrounding the core exceeds a circularity threshold and indicating the cable as unsuitable when the circularity is below the circularity threshold.
A method for assessing suitability of a cable buried in the ground to a hydraulic extraction of the type whereby a core of the cable is extracted using hydraulics, the method comprising:
- electronically measuring signaling characteristics for signaling communicated through the cable while buried;
- processing the signaling characteristics to generate an assessment, the assessment representing suitability of the cable for the hydraulic extraction;
- and
- indicating with the assessment the cable being one of suitable and unsuitable for the hydraulic extraction depending on physical characteristics of the cable derived from the signaling characteristics indicating one or more leakages within the cable, including indicating each leakage to be midspan or endspan, the assessment indicating:
- i) the cable to be suitable for the extraction when each leakage is designated as endspan;
- ii) the cable to be suitable for the extraction when each leakage designated as midspan meets a threshold assigned thereto;
- and
- iii) the cable to be unsuitable for the extraction when at least one leakage designated as midspan fails to meet the threshold assigned thereto.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.