Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
2003-03-27
2004-09-21
Mayo, III, William H. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
Reexamination Certificate
active
06794577
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of electronic signal cables and more particularly to cables used to connect one or more data processing systems in a data processing network.
2. History of Related Art
Wired computer networks typically include one or more data processing systems that are connected by some form of cabling. Among the most pervasive types of cable are the various types of Ethernet cables. Ethernet refers to network hardware and protocols that comply with IEEE 802.3. Ethernet cables provide the physical medium that connects systems in an Ethernet network. The most common Ethernet networks today are 10 Megabit/second and 100 Megabit/second networks. Many of these networks employ twisted pair wire cabling as the most cost effective means of connecting systems in high data-rate networks.
Referring to FIG.
1
A and
FIG. 1B
, two of the most commonly encountered methods of connecting multiple systems in a LAN are depicted. In
FIG. 1A
, a “direct connect” network
100
includes a first data processing system
102
, a second data processing system
104
, and a cable
106
connected between them. Data processing systems
102
and
104
may be implemented with any of a variety of microprocessor based computing systems including laptop and desktop personal computers, server systems, and so forth.
Cable
106
is typically a CAT 5 twisted pair cable that includes 8 wires (4 pairs). In an Ethernet embodiment, these 8 wires include plus and minus transmit wires (T+, T−), plus and minus receive wires (R+, R−), and four power signals (GND, VDD, etc.). In a direct connect network
100
, it is necessary to connect the receive wires of one device to the transmit wires of the other device and vice versa Thus, in
FIG. 1A
, the R+ connection of system
102
is connected to the T+ connection of system
104
, the R− connection of system
102
is connected to the T− connection of system
104
and so forth. This connection configuration is commonly referred to as a “crossover” connection and the cable
106
that implements the crossover connection is referred to as a crossover cable.
In the network
110
as depicted in
FIG. 1B
, multiple data processing systems, two of which are represented by systems
112
and
114
, are connected to ports
122
and
124
of a hub
120
via cables
16
and
118
respectively. The hub configuration of network
110
beneficially enables multiple systems to connect to a common hardware device to create a LAN that includes several systems. In an Ethernet implementation of network
110
, hub
120
is typically configured to connect to systems
112
and
114
using a “pass through” configuration in which the T+/− and R+/− signals of the individual systems connect to the corresponding signal in the connection ports
122
and
124
. Thus, for example, the T+ signal of system
112
is connected to the T+ signal of port
122
on hub
120
.
It will be appreciated that it may be desirable to alter network configurations from time to time for any of a variety of reasons. Thus, for example, a particular system or pair of systems may at one time be part of a direct connect network such as network
100
while, at other times, they may comprise a portion of a hub configuration
110
. It would be desirable to implement a cable that could accommodate either configuration without significantly increasing the cost or complexity of the cable and without an appreciable loss of reliability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems identified above are in large part addressed by a network cable according to the present invention. The cable includes a set of signal wires connected between a pair of connectors and has at least two configuration settings. In a first configuration setting, the pass-through configuration setting, the cable's signal wires are connected between like connector pins such that, for example, pin
1
of a first connector is connected to pin
1
of a second connector, pin
2
of the first connector is connected to pin
2
of the second connector and so forth. In a second configuration, the crossover configuration, at least a subset of the signal wires connect unlike connector pins such that for example, pin
1
of the first connector may be connected to pin
3
of the second connector.
The cable is preferably transitionable from the first cable setting to the second cable setting by hand. In one embodiment, the cable includes a substantially cylindrical coupling piece intermediate between the two connectors. The coupling piece receives signal wires from the two connectors and provides a mechanism for coupling the signal wires from the first connector to the signal wires from the second connector. In one embodiment, the cylindrical coupling piece includes an annular outer shell that encloses an inner cylindrical piece. The outer shell may be rotated around the inner piece from a first position to a second position. When in the first position, the cylindrical coupling piece connects the signal wires of the two connectors in a first configuration while, in the second configuration, the coupling piece connects the signal wires in a second configuration.
In other embodiments, the cable may include alternative forms of coupling pieces. In one embodiment, the coupling piece includes a hand settable switch. The position of the switch dictates the coupling configuration such that a first position of the switch enables a first coupling configuration, a second position of the switch enables a second coupling configuration, and so forth. Another embodiment of the coupling piece includes a mechanism that is configured to retract the cable ends when not in use.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4579407 (1986-04-01), Shimada
patent: 4954101 (1990-09-01), Nelson
patent: 5113159 (1992-05-01), Adriaenssens et al.
patent: 5945631 (1999-08-01), Henrikson et al.
patent: 6297445 (2001-10-01), Yamada et al.
patent: 6310286 (2001-10-01), Troxel et al.
patent: 6364535 (2002-04-01), Coffey
Making a Crossover Coupler: A Cheaper Alternative to a Crossover Cable, http:www.kan.org
etworking/crossover.html, pp. 1-6.
Cat5E Ethernet Crossover Adapter, Tech World, http:www.twstore.com/c5xover.html; p. 1 of 1.
Lally Joseph P.
Leeuwen Leslie A. Van
Mayo III William H.
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