System and method for electronically identifying connections of a cross-connect system

A method of electronically identifying connections established through pairs of cross-connect circuits provided in a cross-connect system, comprising:

• transmitting, from a first circuit of each pair of cross-connect circuits, a scanning signal over a trace connection or a patch connection of a scanning bus, the scanning bus being separate from a connection over which an information signal is communicated between the first and second circuits;
• receiving the scanning signal from the scanning bus by a second circuit of each pair of cross-connect circuits;
• and
• deriving, using the second circuit of each pair of cross-connect circuits and the received scanning signal, connection information identifying the first and second circuits of each pair of cross-connect circuits.

A cross-connect system, comprising:

• a plurality of circuit pairs each comprising a first cross-connect circuit and a second cross-connect circuit,
• a scanning bus comprising hard-wired or patch connections coupling together respective first and second circuits of each circuit pair, the scanning bus being separate from a connection over which an information signal is communicated between respectively coupled first and second circuits;
• and
• a processor coupled to the first and second circuits of each circuit pair via the scanning bus, the processor initiating transmission of a scanning signal by one or both of the first and second circuits of each circuit pair over the scanning bus and acquiring connection information identifying the first and second circuits of each circuit pair.

A cross-connect system, comprising:

• a plurality of circuit pairs each comprising a first cross-connect circuit and a second cross-connect circuit, each of the first and second cross-connect circuits including one or more controllable annunciators;
• a scanning bus comprising hard-wired or patch connections coupling together respective first and second circuits of each circuit pair, the scanning bus being separate from a connection over which an information signal is communicated between respectively coupled first and second circuits;
• a processor coupled to the first and second circuits of each circuit pair via the scanning bus, the processor acquiring connection information identifying the first and second circuits of each circuit pair;
• memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing the connection information;
• and
• a user interface that cooperates with one or both of the processor and memory to display connection information selectively retrieved from the memory and to control selected ones of the controllable annunciators.