Cable tester
AssigneeMarvell International Ltd.
InventorsWilliam Lo, Yiqing Guo, Tak Tsui, Tsin-Ho Leung, Runsheng He, Eric Janofsky
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cable tester tests cable to determine a cable status. The cable status includes an open status, a normal status and a short status. A pretest module senses activity on the cable and selectively enables testing based on said sensed activity. A test module is enabled by the pretest module, transmits a test pulse on the cable, measures a reflection amplitude and calculates a cable length. The test module determines the cable status based on the measured amplitude and the calculated cable length.
Claims23
A physical layer device that communicates over a cable, comprising:
- a cable tester that tests the cable, that determines a cable status including an open status, a short status, and a normal status, and that includes:
- a pretest module that senses activity on the cable and that selectively enables testing depending upon said sensed activity;
- and
- a test module that is enabled by said pretest module, that transmits a test pulse on the cable, that measures a reflection amplitude, that calculates a cable length, and that determines said cable status based on said measured amplitude and said calculated cable length, wherein said cable tester repeats said test N times where N is an integer greater than one and performs a calculation on at least one of said N cable status, said N measured amplitudes and said N calculated cable lengths.
A physical layer device that communicates over a cable, comprising:
- cable testing means that determines a cable status of the cable, wherein said cable status includes an open status, a short status, and a normal status, and wherein said cable testing means includes:
- pretest means for sensing activity on the cable and for selectively enabling testing depending upon said sensed activity;
- and
- test means, that is enabled by said pretest means, for transmitting a test pulse on the cable, measuring a reflection amplitude and calculating a cable length,
- wherein said test means determines said cable status based on said measured amplitude and said calculated cable length, wherein said cable testing means repeats said test N times where N is an integer greater than one and performs a calculation on at least one of said N cable status, said N measured amplitudes and said N calculated cable lengths.
A method for operating a cable tester that tests cable and that determines a cable status, comprising:
- sensing activity on the cable and selectively enabling testing based on said sensed activity;
- transmitting a test pulse on the cable;
- measuring a reflection amplitude;
- calculating a cable length;
- determining a cable status based on said measured amplitude and said calculated cable length;
- and
- repeating said test N times where N is an integer greater than one and performing a calculation on at least one of said N cable status, said N measured amplitudes and said N calculated cable lengths.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.