US 12,462,122 B2
Automated physical network management system utilizing high-resolution RFID, optical scans, and mobile robotic actuator
Anthony Stephen Kewitsch, Santa Monica, CA (US)
Assigned to Telescent Inc., Irvine, CA (US)
Filed by Telescent Inc., Irvine, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 31, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/129,230.
Application 18/129,230 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/227,883, filed on Apr. 12, 2021, granted, now 11,650,598.
Application 17/227,883 is a continuation in part of application No. 16/504,166, filed on Jul. 5, 2019, granted, now 10,977,458, issued on Apr. 13, 2021.
Application 16/504,166 is a continuation of application No. PCT/US2017/069148, filed on Dec. 30, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2023/0316014 A1, Oct. 5, 2023
Int. Cl. G06K 7/10 (2006.01)
CPC G06K 7/10366 (2013.01) [G06K 7/10356 (2013.01)] 22 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An RFID (radio-frequency identification) tracking system for data center assets for automatically discovering and tracking a configuration of a multiplicity of cables terminated in connectors and connected to one of a multiplicity of numbered connector receptacles, the system comprising:
one or more equipment racks, including networked devices therein with multiple spaced apart connector receptacles therein, each equipment rack having an RFID tracking module operating at a given frequency with an upstream network management interface and a downstream array of short-range RFID readout antenna elements, each antenna element being individually addressable by a multiplexing circuit;
a multiplicity of fiber optic cables, each having a pair of terminating connectors, each cable including an RFID tag with a corresponding tag identifier and with less than 5 mm readout range attached in the vicinity of each said terminating connector;
the array of RFID readout antenna elements attached to equipment or patch panels, such that each short-range antenna element is located in the vicinity of a corresponding numbered connector receptacle and able to read out an RFID tag identifier of any of the multiplicity of cables connected to the corresponding numbered connector receptacle; and
a remote management server for storing data of the RFID tag identifier associated with each of the multiplicity of cables, the identifiers associating each RFID antenna element with a particular numbered connector receptacle,
wherein a volume of an RFID tag is less than 200 cubic millimeters, and
wherein the RFID tags are energized passively by a close-coupled RF excitation signal and comprise an integrated circuit and an inductor and capacitor forming a resonant circuit.