EP0391312A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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System for and method of determining cable characteristics
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
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Filing: 1990-04-02
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-04-02
Abstract
Abstract A method of and system for automatically determining length, attenuation, impedance and existence of bridge taps on installed communication cable having access to only one end of the cable. A waveform, which includes incident and reflected pulses, is analyzed to determines the presence of significant pulses. The presence of only one positive significant pulse indicates the absence of any discontinuities and facilitates the calculation of a signal-to-noise ratio which determines whether the cable will support the operation of digital communication thereon. The presence of more than one positive significant pulse or a negative pulse indicates the presence of at least one fault on the cable which prevents the operation of digital communication on the cable.
Inventors
- 👤 Roger Alan Bjork
- 👤 John Torrence Chapman
- 👤 Harry Leroy Cochrane
- 👤 Timothy Lee Wilson
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 04:39
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04B; H04B3/00; H04B3/02; H04B3/46; G; G01; G01R; G01R31/00; G01R31/50; G01R31/58; H04M; H04M3/00; H04M3/22; H04M3/26; H04M3/28; H04M3/30
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
69 words
A system for determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said system includes: means for transmitting a pulse over said communication cable; means for detecting at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; and means for analyzing said at least one reflected pulse to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
69 words
A system for determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said system includes: means for transmitting a pulse over said communication cable; means for detecting at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; and means for analyzing said at least one reflected pulse to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
The system as recited in claim 1 further includes means for determining whether said detected at least one reflected pulse is significant.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
The system as recited in claim 2 wherein said analyzing means includes means for determining the number of significant pulses detected.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system as recited in claim 3 further includes means for calculating impedance characteristics of said communication cable.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
59 words
The system as recited in claim 4 wherein only one positive significant pulse was detected and further includes: means for determining a length of said communication cable; means for calculating attenuation characteristics of said communication cable; and means, responsive to the length, the impedance and the attenuation of said cable, for calculating a signal-to-noise ratio for said communication cable.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
64 words
The system as recited in claim 3 wherein one negative significant or more than one positive significant pulse was detected and further includes means for determining a location of a fault which exists on the communication cable which is indicated by a starting point of said negative significant pulse or a starting point of a first of said more than one positive significant pulse.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
66 words
A method of determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said method includes the steps of: transmitting a pulse over said communication cable; detecting at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; and analyzing said at least one reflected pulse to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
66 words
A method of determining whether a communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said method includes the steps of: transmitting a pulse over said communication cable; detecting at least one pulse reflected from said communication cable; and analyzing said at least one reflected pulse to determine whether said communication cable will support digital communications thereon, said analysis being performed from one end of said communication cable.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method as recited in claim 7 further includes the step of determining whether said detected at least one reflected pulse is significant.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method as recited in claim 8 wherein said step of analyzing includes the step of determining the number of significant pulses detected.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method as recited in claim 9 further includes the step of calculating impedance characteristics of said communication cable.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
66 words
The method as recited in claim 10 wherein only one positive significant pulse was detected and further includes the steps of: determining a length of said communication cable; calculating attenuation characteristics of said communication cable; and using said length, impedance characteristics, and attenuation characteristics of said communication cable to determine whether said cable will support digital communications by calculating a signal-to-noise ratio for said communication cable.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method as recited in claim 9 wherein one negative significant or more than one positive significant pulse was detected and further includes the step of determining a location of a fault which exists on the communication cable which is indicated by a starting point of said negative significant pulse or a starting point of a first of said positive significant pulse.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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