Quick Order. All Products All Products. See All 1. Cable Assemblies. Connectors Accessories. Educational Products. High Reliability. See All Circulators Isolators. Noise Sources. Test and Measurement. Waveguide Components. Resource Tools. RF Institute. Panel Antenna Operates From 2. Panel Antenna Operates From 3. Panel Antenna Operates from 2. We have recognized that an RF antenna grid design in which the antenna array is installed on a patch panel cover, rather than on the patch panel itself, advantageously allows for the retrofitting of an RF antenna grid on existing patch panel based systems without disrupting network operation.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, therefore, an apparatus for determining connectivity between one or more device ports thereof and one or more cable ends having corresponding RFID tags attached thereto comprises a patch panel having a plurality of device ports and a patch panel cover comprising a plurality of RFID antennas, where each of the RFID antennas comprises one or more protruding portions thereof, each of the protruding portions of the RFID antennas being in close physical proximity to one or more of the plurality of device ports when the patch panel cover is positioned in a fixed positional relationship to the patch panel e.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, an RF antenna grid array is installed on a patch panel cover in such a manner as to enable the sensing of RFID tags attached to cable ends which have been plugged into device ports on a patch panel, when the patch panel cover is affixed to the patch panel.
In particular, the RF antennas advantageously comprise protruding portions thereof to enable such sensing of the RFID tags. In accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the invention, a patch panel comprising a rectangular array of device ports has a patch panel cover attached thereto, wherein a RF antenna grid comprising a plurality of row antennas and a plurality of column antennas is installed on the patch panel cover.
In particular, in accordance with this illustrative embodiment of the invention, each of the column antennas advantageously protrude from the cover in a large e.
In addition, in accordance with this illustrative embodiment of the invention, each of the row antennas advantageously comprises a series of protruding portions, each protruding portion protruding from the cover in a small e. In accordance with certain illustrative embodiments of the present invention, the detection range of the antennas may be advantageously tuned so that a single column or row of RFID tags may be detected.
For example, in accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the invention, the detection range may be adjusted by varying the power supplied to the antennas, shaping the antennas to focus the antenna detection field onto the tags, and taking advantage of well-known antenna coupling effects. The illustrative patch panel i. Each cable end 13 has attached thereto a corresponding RFID tag The illustrative patch panel cover i. In accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG.
In addition, in accordance with this illustrative embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. When the patch panel cover of FIG. In particular, each protruding portion of a given row antenna is in close proximity to a corresponding one of the device ports located in the corresponding row of the patch panel's device ports. The illustrative antenna selector of FIG.
In particular, the illustrative antenna selector configuration of FIG. In operation of the illustrative antenna selector configuration of FIG. In accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the present invention, it can also be easily determined e. In flowchart block 50 , one of the column antennas is selected e. Then, in block 51 , the selected column antenna is pulsed e. This process i. Once all of the column antennas have been processed, flowchart block 54 selects one of the row antennas e.
Then, in block 55 , the selected row antenna is pulsed e. Once all column antennas and all row antennas have been processed, block 58 of the flowchart examines the data which has been stored in blocks 52 and 56 to find the associated row number and column number of each identified RFID tag i. This identifies by row number and column number the connected-to device port.
The cable end to which is attached the RFID tag having the associated ID value is the cable end which is connected to the identified device port. In one illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a database comprising information relating cable identities to associated RFID tag ID values may then be consulted to characterize the connection to the given device port.
And finally, in accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the present invention see description above and as shown in block 59 of the flowchart of FIG. Then, by performing a pair-wise comparison between these masked values, it can be easily determined e. It should be noted that all of the preceding discussion merely illustrates the general principles of the invention.
It will be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various other arrangements, which, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention, and are included within its spirit and scope.
Moreover, there is no need for the antennas or the device ports that they monitor of the present invention to be arranged in a rectangular grid or, for that matter, in any particular spatial organization whatsoever.
In addition, all examples and conditional language recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.
Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural and functional equivalents thereof.
It is also intended that such equivalents include both currently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in the future—i. A patch panel cover for use in determining connectivity between one or more device ports comprised in a patch panel and one or more cable ends having corresponding RFID tags attached thereto, the one or more cable ends being connected to corresponding ones of said one or more device ports of said patch panel, the patch panel cover being a separate and distinct element from said patch panel and being attachable to and detachable from said patch panel,.
The patch panel cover of claim 1 wherein said device ports of said patch panel are arranged in a substantially rectangular arrangement comprising a plurality of rows of said device ports and a plurality of columns of said device ports, wherein said plurality of RFID antennas comprises a plurality of row antennas and a plurality of column antennas,.
The patch panel cover of claim 5 wherein each protruding portion of each of said column antennas has a middle portion between its two ends and each of said plurality of protruding portions comprised in each of said row antennas has a middle portion between its two ends, wherein said middle portion of said protruding portion of each of said column antennas is in close physical proximity to each of said device ports in said corresponding one of said columns of said device ports when said patch panel cover is positioned in said fixed, predefined relationship to said patch panel, and.
The patch panel cover of claim 6 wherein the middle portions of each of said protruding portions of each of said row antennas is twisted by an amount approximately equal to 90 degrees, such that the middle portion of each of said protruding portions of each of said row antennas is substantially parallel to the middle portion of a corresponding one of said protruding portions of one of said column antennas. The patch panel cover of claim 2 further comprising an antenna selector connected to each of said plurality of row antennas, the antenna selector for selecting one of said plurality of row antennas at a time for sensing RFID information therefrom.
The patch panel cover of claim 9 , wherein the antenna selector comprises a dual switch arrangement to reduce antenna coupling effects between said plurality of row antennas. An apparatus for use in determining connectivity between one or more device ports and one or more cable ends having corresponding RFID tags attached thereto, the apparatus comprising: a patch panel, the patch panel comprising one or more of said device ports, one or more of said cable ends being connected to corresponding ones of said one or mare device ports of said patch panel,.
The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said device ports of said patch panel are arranged in a substantially rectangular arrangement comprising a plurality of rows of said device ports and a plurality of columns of said device ports, wherein said plurality of RFID antennas comprises a plurality of row antennas and a plurality of column antennas,.
The apparatus of claim 15 wherein each protruding portion of each of said column antennas has a middle portion between its two ends and each of said plurality of protruding portions comprised in each of said row antennas has a middle portion between its two ends, wherein said middle portion of said protruding portion of each of said column antennas is in close physical proximity to each of said device ports in said corresponding one of said columns of said device ports, and.
The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the middle portions of each of said protruding portions of each of said row antennas is twisted by an amount approximately equal to 90 degrees, such that the middle portion of each of said protruding portions of each of said row antennas is substantially parallel to the middle portion of a corresponding one of said protruding portions of one of said column antennas.
The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising an antenna selector connected to each of said plurality of row antennas, the antenna selector for selecting one of said plurality of row antennas at a time for sensing RFID information therefrom.
The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the antenna selector comprises a dual switch arrangement to reduce antenna coupling effects between said plurality of row antennas. Patch panel cover mounted antenna grid for use in the automatic determination of network cable connections using RFID tags. USB2 en. Arrangement for monitoring patch fields at distribution points in data networks.
System and method for dynamic determination of system topology in a multiple building block server system. System and method for providing power and communication link for RFID managed connectivity using removable module. Communications between multiple radio frequency identification RFID connected tags and one or more devices, and related systems and methods. Radio frequency identification transponder for communicating condition of a component.
Protocol for communications between a radio frequency identification RFID tag and a connected device, and related systems and methods. Radio frequency identification RFID connected tag communications protocol and related systems and methods. USB1 en. Communications patching systems with radio frequency identification antenna switching circuits. System for monitoring the detachable joint of a cable path using radio frequency identifications.
Methods, systems and computer program products for operating a communications network with enhanced security.
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