Abstract: A patch panel system includes a fiber optic patch panel and a separate robot unit designed to interface with the patch panel (e.g., dock with) and to configure, reconfigure, test, validate, or otherwise provision one or more fiber optic connections of the patch panel. The patch panel includes connection ports arranged in an array of rows and columns, with each row being laterally moveable according to a disentanglement algorithm to provide the robot unit with unobstructed access to fiber optic connections.

Abstract: A mobile robot system for automated operation of a data center or telecommunications office, includes a moveable robotic platform with a multiplicity of tools integrated therein to operate on a network element within a bay, with integrated RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags and visual alignment markers attached to fiber optic connectors and ports of the network elements. The mobile robot system positions a robot probe arm with an RFID probe for proximity detection to identify a cable and associated fiber optic connector based on a unique RF identifier of a tag on the fiber optic connector. The robot probe arm has a connector gripper to engage and unplug the associated fiber optic connector.

Abstract: A fiber optic strand distribution system utilizing a fiber optic reconfiguration robot moving in xyz directions within a fiber interconnect zone. The system includes a multiplicity of substantially equal length, substantially straight-line fiber strands in an x-z plane within the fiber interconnect zone; each fiber strand having a fixed, central point that lies in proximity to adjacent fiber strands at a distal end located within a linear, central backbone oriented parallel to a y axis; and each fiber strand having a moveable endpoint at a proximal end when engaged by the reconfiguration robot, wherein said moveable endpoint it is moveable between rearrangeable terminal locations along a partial spherical surface that is substantially equidistant from a midpoint of the linear, central backbone, and wherein the robot carries the moveable endpoint of the fiber strand according to a non-repeating braid algorithm and between terminal locations.

Abstract: A large-scale, high-performance hybrid fiber optic switching system is comprised of a multiplicity of fast optical circuit switch (OCS) units with high-speed reconfiguration capabilities, wherein the fibers of each fast OCS unit are spliced to a large-scale robotic patch-panel system that enables nonblocking, any-to-any connectivity between thousands of ports without adding insertion loss. Integrated diagnostics to validate the optical performance of each fiber connection are also disclosed.

Abstract: A fiber optic cable tray system with a three dimension array of pulleys is disclosed, comprised of a central, stacked linear array of flexible, low friction through guides attached to substrate, and a multiplicity of the length buffers arrayed on the substrate, wherein the length buffers each include a spring-loaded moving sled with a multiplicity of freely rotating pulleys on a moving common shaft, and a spaced-apart fixed common shaft with an equal multiplicity of freely rotating pulleys thereon, wherein the fiber optic cable wraps in a repeated circuit around opposing sets of pulleys on the moving shaft and on the fixed shaft and is routed through one of the low friction through guides to a fiber optic connector at the distal fiber end. Multiple identical trays can be stacked on top of one another within a common housing, to produce modules with a number of cables in multiples of 12.

Abstract: A high-capacity optical fiber switching system enables selective interconnection of individual input fibers to output fibers. A three-dimensional array of paired linear elements with selectable flexibility and length is arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns to form a transverse interchange plane. Each pair consists of a stationary lower element and a movable upper element, the latter holding a terminus of a distinct optical fiber. Couplers placed within this array facilitate signal conductor connections. A transport device with an axially movable gripper moves in horizontal spaces between columns to reposition the movable fiber terminals. Signal-controlled, orthogonal linear drives provide vertical and horizontal movements of the transport device, enabling placement within the fiber array.

Abstract: A fiber optic transfer switch to reconfigure multiple ganged ports in parallel, the fiber optic transfer switch comprising a pair of actuators; a first set of optical fibers which is translatable along longitudinal and transverse directions by the pair of actuators; and a second set of optical fibers and third set of optical fibers that are fixed, spaced apart and longitudinally opposing the first set of optical fibers, wherein the pair of actuators are constructed and adapted to alternately connect the first set of optical fibers to either (i) the second set of optical fibers or (ii) the third set of optical fibers.

Abstract: A fiber optic cable tray system with a three dimension array of pulleys is disclosed, comprised of a central, stacked linear array of flexible, low friction through guides attached to substrate, and a multiplicity of the length buffers arrayed on the substrate, wherein the length buffers each include a spring-loaded moving sled with a multiplicity of freely rotating pulleys on a moving common shaft, and a spaced-apart fixed common shaft with an equal multiplicity of freely rotating pulleys thereon, wherein the fiber optic cable wraps in a repeated circuit around opposing sets of pulleys on the moving shaft and on the fixed shaft and is routed through one of the low friction through guides to a fiber optic connector at the distal fiber end. Multiple identical trays can be stacked on top of one another within a common housing, to produce modules with a number of cables in multiples of 12.

Abstract: A high-capacity optical fiber switching system enables selective interconnection of individual input fibers to output fibers. A three-dimensional array of paired linear elements with selectable flexibility and length is arranged in horizontal rows and vertical columns to form a transverse interchange plane. Each pair consists of a stationary lower element and a movable upper element, the latter holding a terminus of a distinct optical fiber. Couplers placed within this array facilitate signal conductor connections. A transport device with an axially movable gripper moves in horizontal spaces between columns to reposition the movable fiber terminals. Signal-controlled, orthogonal linear drives provide vertical and horizontal movements of the transport device, enabling placement within the fiber array.

Abstract: An automated fiber optic patch-panel/cross-connect system comprised of a stacked arrangement of multiple replaceable modules, including a first multiplicity of fiber modules, each with a second multiplicity of reconfigurable internal fiber connectors; a common robot module shared among fiber modules, wherein any connector within a fiber module in the system can be moved to any other connector of any other fiber module in the system; a power management module that distributes electrical power to the fiber modules and the robot module; and a server module that generates commands that are placed on communication bus to activate robot and fiber modules. The modules are physically separated and spatially arranged to be serviced replaced without interrupting fiber connections previously established in the system.

Abstract: A device and methods for cleaning an end of a fiber optic cable including a cleaning cartridge system for dispensing and usage monitoring of fiber end face cleaning fabric. The cleaning cartridge system includes a spool of cleaning fabric; an actuator that drives a fabric advance roller; a pressure sensor that detects when a fiber end face is in contact with fabric and outputs a contact-indicating signal; an internal control circuit that drives the actuator to advance the cleaning fabric in time-relation to the contact-indicating signal; and an external controller that determines proper advance of the cleaning fabric and consumption of the cleaning fabric over time. Methods of maintaining low loss physical fiber-optic connections in an automated cross-connect system use the cleaning device and methods.

Abstract: High-resolution optical backscatter system and method to discover the end-to-end physical topology of complex, interconnected fiber optic network, and to automatically monitor and troubleshoot its performance. Each passive cable element has unique, substantially unchanging optical backscatter signature based on microscopic random imperfections of the glass core along the length of the optical fiber, measurable along the length of the optical fiber using an optical reflection meter. The resulting signature is a two dimensional array of data points (or trace) corresponding to the optical backreflection signal strength as a function of length. When multiple cables are interconnected to produce a link, the corresponding traces of the multiple cables are concatenated to produce a composite trace for the entire link. The composite trace is compared to the traces of individual cables and the series of cables comprising the link and the serial relationship in which they are interconnected is thereby determined.

Abstract: A mobile robot system for automated operation of a data center or telecommunications office, includes a moveable robotic platform with a multiplicity of tools integrated therein to operate on a network element within a bay, with integrated RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags and visual alignment markers attached to fiber optic connectors and ports of the network elements. The mobile robot system positions a robot probe arm with an RFID probe for proximity detection to identify a cable and associated fiber optic connector based on a unique RF identifier of a tag on the fiber optic connector. The robot probe arm has a connector gripper to engage and unplug the associated fiber optic connector.

Abstract: Applications of robotics applied to patch-panels and cross-connects to improve operational processes within data centers and communications networks. Systems and architectures to perform frequent, accurate and low-cost reconfigurations and measurements of the physical network are described, thereby eliminating labor and time delays when completing routine tasks such physical network provisioning and reconfiguration.

Abstract: A highly scalable and modular automated optical cross connect switch devices which exhibit low loss and scalability to high port counts. A device for the programmable interconnection of large numbers of optical fibers (100s-1000s) is provided, whereby a two-dimensional array of fiber optic connections is mapped in an ordered and rule-based fashion into a one-dimensional array with tensioned fiber optic circuit elements tracing substantially straight lines there between. Fiber optic elements are terminated in a stacked arrangement of flexible fiber optic circuit elements with a capacity to retain excess fiber lengths while maintaining an adequate bend radius. The combination of these elements partitions the switch volume into multiple independent, non-interfering zones, which retain their independence for arbitrary and unlimited numbers of reconfigurations.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods are employed to install fiber optic cables in a data center facility using one or more cable dispensing robots that dispense fiber optic cable that is pre-spooled on a cable cartridge, by programmatically unspooling the cable from the cable cartridge and paying the cable out along a potentially transverse oscillatory path (e.g. sinusoidal curve) as the robot moves down a cable tray network that is arranged adjacent and above large numbers of equipment bays. A controller accesses a database which stores the state of the cables within the cable tray network. The database further stores information regarding availability of cable cartridges of standard cable lengths, which are potentially stored within a cable cassette loading/unloading system. The controller receives instructions on where and how to spatially deploy a fiber optic interconnect cable within the tray network of the data center facility.

Abstract: A large scale, non-blocking fiber optic cross-connect system consists of multiple stages, including a central multifiber per connection system. The number of ports of this cross-connect system scales to over 10,000, in an incremental, modular, field expandable approach. Two separate arrays of “edge” cross-connect systems using KBS methodology are positioned on opposite sides of a central core cross-connect system, wherein the core system is comprised of switchable blocks of multi-fiber trunk lines, each terminated in a single connector that is reconfigurable by robotic means. The trunk lines between edge cross-connects are controlled by a trunk line management system to provision/deprovision blocks of multiple connections at a time in a “core” cross-connect circuit block between edge cross-connects. The core system is configured to controllably interconnect the physically separate edge cross-connect systems which concurrently direct data along selected paths to and from the central core circuit block.

Abstract: A mobile robot system for automated operation of a data center or telecommunications office, includes a moveable robotic platform with a multiplicity of tools integrated therein, to operate on a network element within a bay, with integrated RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags and visual alignment markers attached to fiber optic connectors and ports of the network elements. The mobile robot system positions a robot probe arm with an RFID probe for proximity detection to identify a cable and associated fiber optic connector based on a unique RF identifier of a tag on the fiber optic connector. The robot probe arm has a connector gripper to engage and unplug the associated fiber optic connector.

Abstract: A large scale, non-blocking fiber optic cross-connect system consists of multiple stages, including a central multifiber per connection system. The number of ports of this cross-connect system scales to over 10,000, in an incremental, modular, field expandable approach. Two separate arrays of “edge” cross-connect systems using KBS methodology are positioned on opposite sides of a central core cross-connect system, wherein the core system is comprised of switchable blocks of multi-fiber trunk lines, each terminated in a single connector that is reconfigurable by robotic means. The trunk lines between edge cross-connects are controlled by a trunk line management system to provision/deprovision blocks of multiple connections at a time in a “core” cross-connect circuit block between edge cross- connects. The core system is configured to controllably interconnect the physically separate edge cross-connect systems which concurrently direct data along selected paths to and from the central core circuit block.

Abstract: An automated fiber optic patch-panel/cross-connect system comprised of a stacked arrangement of multiple replaceable modules, including a first multiplicity of fiber modules, each with a second multiplicity of reconfigurable internal fiber connectors; a common robot module shared among fiber modules, wherein any connector within a fiber module in the system can be moved to any other connector of any other fiber module in the system; a power management module that distributes electrical power to the fiber modules and the robot module; and a server module that generates commands that are placed on communication bus to activate robot and fiber modules. The modules are physically separated and spatially arranged to be serviced replaced without interrupting fiber connections previously established in the system.