Port occupancy detection
AssigneeCommScope Technologies LLC
InventorJan Willem RIETVELD
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Port occupancy can be detected by positioning signal responders on shutters disposed at the ports. The signal responders are detectable when the shutters are undeflected (i.e., the respective ports are available). The signal responders are not detectable when the shutters are deflected (i.e., the respective ports are occupied). The signal responders may include RFID tags. Each shutter having a corresponding signal responder may span more than one port.
Claims21
(canceled)
A termination component comprising:
- a body including defining an interior, the body carrying a plug receptacle defining a port;
- and
- a shutter arrangement disposed at the port, the shutter arrangement including a shutter body movable between an undeflected position and a deflected position, the shutter body having oppositely facing first and second surfaces, the first surface facing the interior of the body when the shutter body is disposed in the undeflected position and the second surface facing outwardly of the body when the shutter body is disposed in the undeflected position, the shutter body defining a pocket at the first surface, the pocket facing the interior of the body when the shutter body is disposed in the undeflected position.
A method of tracking connections within a communications system, the method comprising:
- detecting an insertion of a first plug connector at a port of a first termination component by detecting a position of a first shutter arrangement of the port of the first termination component;
- detecting an insertion of a second plug connector at a port of a second termination component by detecting a position of a second shutter arrangement of the port of the second termination component;
- and
- inferring that the first plug connector and the second plug connector are disposed at opposite ends of a common cable.
A method of detecting a plug connector at a termination component defining a plurality of ports, each port having a respective shutter arrangement that is movable between a first position and a second position, the method comprising:
- determining a position of a first of the shutter arrangements by detecting the first shutter arrangement, the position of the first shutter arrangement being one of a respective undeflected position and a respective deflected position;
- determining a position of a second of the shutter arrangements by not detecting the second shutter arrangement, the position of the second shutter arrangement being one of a respective undeflected position and a respective deflected position;
- and
- determining whether a plug connector is present at each of the first and second shutter arrangements based on the determined position of each of the first and second shutter arrangements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.