PORT OCCUPANCY DETECTION

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.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. 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.

3. The termination component of claim 2, further comprising a component mounted within the pocket of the shutter body.

4. The termination component of claim 3, wherein the component moves in unison with the shutter body between the undeflected position and a deflected position.

5. The termination component of claim 3, wherein the component includes a signal responder.

6. The termination component of claim 2, wherein the plug receptacle is one of a plurality of plug receptacles carried by the body, wherein each plug receptacle defines a respective port; and wherein the shutter arrangement is one of a plurality of shutter arrangements disposed at the body.

7. The termination component of claim 2, wherein the shutter body of the shutter arrangement is biased to the undeflected position.

8. 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.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining a presence of the plug connector comprises determining the plug connector is present when the shutter arrangement is in the non-detectable position.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising attempting to detect the shutter arrangement.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein attempting to detect the shutter arrangement comprises sending a query signal towards the shutter arrangement using a scanner.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the shutter arrangement includes a shutter carrying a signal responder.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the shutter is movable between an undeflected position and a deflected position, and wherein the shutter arrangement is disposed in the detectable position when the shutter is disposed in the undeflected position.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the shutter arrangement is disposed in the non-detectable position when the shutter is disposed in the deflected position.

15. 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.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the plug connector is determined to be present at the second shutter arrangement if the first shutter arrangement is determined to be in the deflected position.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the second shutter arrangement is determined to be in the deflected position.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the plug connector is determined to not be present at the first shutter arrangement if the first shutter arrangement is determined to be in the undeflected position.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first shutter arrangement is determined to be in the undeflected position.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein detecting the first shutter arrangement includes sending a query signal towards the port of the first shutter arrangement.

21. The method of claim 15, biasing the first shutter arrangement towards the undeflected position.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the description, illustrate several aspects of the present disclosure. A brief description of the drawings is as follows:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an example termination component defining ports protected by shutters, a portion of the termination component being removed for ease in viewing the shutters;

[0014] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1;

[0015] FIG. 3 is an axial cross-sectional profile taken along a plane extending coaxial with the insertion axes of the two ports cut through in FIG. 1;

[0016] FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the portion of the termination component shown in FIG. 2;

[0017] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an example signal responder implemented as an RFID tag;

[0018] FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the termination component of FIG. 1;

[0019] FIG. 7 is an exploded view of an example shutter sub-assembly mountable at the termination component of FIG. 1 as shown in FIG. 6;

[0020] FIG. 8 is a rear perspective view of the shutter sub-assembly of FIG. 7 shown assembled; and

[0021] FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the shutter sub-assembly of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary aspects of the present disclosure that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

[0023] The present disclosure is directed to a termination component 100 including a body 110 carrying a plug receptacle 112 defining a termination port 114. A shutter 116 is mounted to the body 110 at the plug receptacle 112. The shutter 116 is movable between an undeflected position and a deflected position. When the termination port 114 is unoccupied (i.e., when no plug connector is received at the plug receptacle 112), the shutter 116 is disposed in the undeflected position (e.g., see shutter 116a in FIG. 1). When a plug connector 118 is received at the plug receptacle 112, the shutter 116 is disposed in the deflected position (e.g., see shutter 116b in FIG. 1).

[0024] The shutter 116 has an exterior side 120 that faces outwardly from the port 114 and an interior side 122 that faces into the port 114 when the shutter 116 is disposed in the undeflected position. An insertion axis I for each plug receptacle 112 intersects the interior side 122 of the shutter 116 when the shutter 116 is disposed in the undeflected position. When moved to the deflected position, the insertion axis I no longer intersects the shutter 116. In some implementations, the shutter 116 extends generally vertically across the insertion axis I. In other implementations, however, the shutter 116 extends at an angle across the insertion axis I (e.g., see FIG. 3).

[0025] A signal responder 124 is mounted to the shutter 116. The signal responder 124 is configured to emit a response signal when a triggering signal (e.g., a query signal from an RFID scanner) is received. The shutter 116 carries the signal responder 124 along as the shutter 116 moves between the undeflected and deflected positions. The signal responder 124 is detectable (e.g., emits a response signal readable by the RFID scanner) when the shutter 116 is disposed in the undeflected position. The signal responder 124 is not detectable (e.g., is unable to receive the triggering signal and/or is unable to emit the response signal) when the shutter 116 is disposed in the deflected position.

[0026] In certain implementations, the signal responder 124 includes both a memory that stores a response signal (e.g., a serial identification number) and a transceiver that enables the stored response signal to be wirelessly transmitted to a scanner (e.g., a handheld scanner). For example, the signal responder 124 can include an RFID tag. In some examples, the signal responder 124 includes an active RFID tag. In other examples, the signal responder 124 includes a passive RFID tag. In some examples, the signal responder 124 includes a read-only memory. In other examples, the signal responder 124 includes a read-write memory. In still other examples, the signal responder 124 includes a WORM (write once, read many) memory.

[0027] FIG. 5 illustrates an example signal responder 124 suitable for use with the termination component 100. In FIG. 5, the signal responder 124 is implemented as an RFID transponder. The signal responder 124 includes a substrate 130 carrying an integrated circuit 132 and an antenna 134. The integrated circuit 132 includes a memory 136 in which the response signal is stored and a processor 138 that reads the memory 136 when sufficient power is received by the antenna 134. The processor 138 also causes the antenna 134 to transmit the stored information (e.g., as radio-frequency signals).

[0028] In some implementations, movement of the signal responder 124 to the deflected position renders the signal responder 124 unreadable by moving the signal responder 124 out of alignment with the scanner. For example, an antenna of the signal responder 124 may no longer be disposed within the electro-magnetic field generated by the scanner. In other implementations, movement of the signal responder 124 to the deflected position may cause physical contact between the signal responder 124 and an inhibitor 128. For example, the inhibitor 128 may be formed of a material (e.g., metal) that interferes with the functioning of the signal responder 124 (e.g., interferes with the 134 antenna of the signal responder 124).

[0029] In certain implementations, the shutter 116 is biased to the undeflected position by a spring 126. In certain examples, the spring 126 includes a metal leaf spring. In certain implementations, the spring 126 has a first part 126a that extends over the interior side 122 of the shutter 116 and a second part 126b that extends into the port 114 of the plug receptacle 112. In certain examples, the second part 126b of the spring 126 forms the inhibitor 128. In some implementations, the signal responder 124 (e.g., an antenna of the signal responder 124) physically contacts the second part 126b of the spring 126 when the shutter 116 is disposed in the deflected position. In other implementations, the signal responder 124 is positioned sufficiently close to the inhibitor 128 to interfere with the emission and/or reception of radio frequency signals at the signal responder 124.

[0030] In use, a scanner (e.g., a handheld scanner) sends out a triggering signal (e.g., a radio frequency signal) towards the signal responders 124 at the termination component 100. As each signal responder 124 receives the triggering signal, the signal responder 124 transmits the response signal stored in memory 136 using the antenna 134. The scanner receives the response signals from the signal responders 124 and provides the signals to a system processor (e.g., within the scanner, cabled to the scanner, wirelessly connected to the scanner, etc.). By analyzing the response signals received, the system processor can determine which shutters 116 are deflected and which shutters 116 are undeflected. From this information, the system processor can make a logical inference of which termination ports are occupied and which ports are available.

[0031] In certain implementations, it is possible to automatically track the connections (e.g., patching connections) within a communications system by detecting the insertions and removals of cables (e.g., of plug connectors terminating the cables) at the termination ports if operators of the system follow certain conventions when making connections. For example, when an operator inserts a plug connector terminating a first end of a cable into a port 114 on a first termination component 100, the plug connector pushes the shutter 116 from the undeflected position to the deflected position. If the scanner is periodically sending out triggering signals (e.g., every few seconds, every few milliseconds, every few microseconds, every few minutes, etc.), then the system processor will detect this insertion when the scanner stops receiving a response signal from the signal responder associated with the shutter 116 deflected by the plug. At some point in time thereafter, the operator inserts a second plug terminating the opposite end of the cable into a port 114 on another termination component 100 (e.g., the same termination component or another termination component). The system processor will detect this insertion when the scanner stops receiving a response signal from the signal responder associated with the shutter 116 deflected by the second plug. By instructing operators of the communications system to always plug in the two ends of a cable into their respective connector ports before proceeding to plug in (or remove) any other cables in the communications system, the communications system may make a logical inference that a cable is connected between the identified ports on the first and second termination components 100. Thus, in this fashion, the communications system may automatically track connections between the termination components 100 without specialized cables or specialized plug connectors. Similar operations may be performed to track the removal of cables.

[0032] In certain implementations, the signal responder 124 is mounted to the interior side 122 of the shutter 116 and so it not accessible from an exterior of the port 114. In certain examples, the signal responder 124 is recessed into the interior side 122 of the shutter 116 (e.g., see FIG. 8). For example, the signal responder 124 can be mounted within a pocket 123 defined in the shutter 116 at the interior side 122. In some examples, the pocket 123 is sufficiently shallow to enable the signal responder 124 to contact the inhibitor 128 (e.g., the second part 126b of the spring 126) when the shutter 116 is deflected. In other examples, the pocket 123 is sufficiently deep to prevent direct contact between the signal responder 124 and the inhibitor 128.

[0033] As shown in FIGS. 6-9, one or more shutters 116 can be formed as modular shutter sub-assembly 150 that mount within ports 114 at a termination component 100. For example, one or more shutters 116 can be mounted to a substrate 140 that is mountable at the termination component 100. In the example shown, a first shutter 116 is mountable to a first side of the substrate 140 and a second shutter 116 is mountable to a second side of the substrate 140. In other examples, the substrate may carry one or more shutters 116 at only one of the sides. The first shutter 116 and the second shutter 116 move between the respective undeflected and deflected positions independently of each other. In certain implementations, each shutter 116 is moved by a respective spring 126 that is not shared with the other shutters 116 on the substrate 140.

[0034] In certain implementations, each shutter 116 is sized and shaped to selectively block and provide access to two adjacent ports 114 (e.g., see FIG. 1). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a shutter 116 may have a first portion 116a that blocks access to a first port 114 and a second portion 116b that blocks access to a second port 114 that is adjacent the first port 114. The first and second portions 116a, 116b move unitarily with each other as the shutter 116 is moved between the undeflected and deflected positions. In certain examples, only one inhibitor 128 is carried by each other. For example, the shutter 116 may be disposed at a pair of ports intended to receive a duplex connector. Accordingly, the pair of ports can be determined to be occupied or available as a single unit.

[0035] The substrate 140 of each modular shutter sub-assembly 150 includes an attachment arrangement that holds the modular shutter sub-assembly 150 to the termination component 100. In the example shown, the attachment arrangement includes a latch arm 142 extend into the termination component 100 from the substrate 140. In certain examples, the attachment arrangement also can include a frame 152 that mounts to the termination component 100 to hold the modular component 150 at the termination component 100. For example, the frame 152 shown in FIG. 6 includes a bar 154 that extends over surfaces 144 of the modular shutter assemblies 150 to hold the modular shutter assemblies 150 at the termination component 100.

[0036] Having described the preferred aspects and implementations of the present disclosure, modifications and equivalents of the disclosed concepts may readily occur to one skilled in the art. For example, the shutters 116 carrying the signal responders 124 can be mountable at ports 114 defined by adapter blocks, optical patch panels, optical panels, etc. However, it is intended that such modifications and equivalents be included within the scope of the claims which are appended hereto.