Rfid systems and methods for optical fiber network deployment and maintenance

Abstract

An optical-fiber-network (OFN) radio-frequency identification (RFID) method for deploying and/or provisioning service and/or locating faults in an OFN. The method includes providing at least one RFID tag on at least one OFN component of a plurality of OFN components that constitute an OFN and writing OFN component data to the at least one RFID tag that relates to at least one property of the OFN component associated with the RFID tag. The RFID tag data is written to and read from the RFID tags using one or more mobile RFID readers. The OFN component data is recorded and stored in an OFN database unit. The plurality of OFN components are deployed and operations of the OFN are provisioned using the OFN component data. The method may also include using the OFN component data and a plurality of locations on a spatial map to locate a fault in the OFN.

1 . A radio-frequency identification (RFID) method of deploying and/or maintaining an optical fiber network (OFN), comprising:
 providing at least one RFID tag on at least one OFN component of a plurality of OFN components that constitute the OFN;   writing OFN component data to at least one RFID tag using at least one RFID reader, wherein the OFN component data relates to at least one property of a corresponding OFN component;   recording and storing the OFN component data in an OFN-component-data database unit;   deploying the plurality of OFN components in the OFN; and   provisioning operations of the OFN using the OFN component data.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising maintaining the OFN after deployment, wherein the maintaining comprises:
 reading OFN component data from at least one RFID tag associated with at least one corresponding OFN component of a plurality of OFN components that constitute the OFN, wherein the OFN component data comprises OFN component data relating to a location and to a maintenance status or history of the at least one corresponding OFN component;   using the OFN component data to determine where the at least one corresponding OFN component is located on a spatial map of the OFN showing a plurality of OFN component locations, the plurality of OFN component locations comprising a location for each of two or more of the plurality of OFN components; and   performing maintenance operations based on the location and the maintenance status or history.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising creating a maintenance map by writing maintenance information to the at least one RFID tag and recording and storing the maintenance information in the OFN-component-data database unit. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the maintenance map comprises maintenance that needs to be performed and/or maintenance that has already been performed. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising updating the maintenance information in at least one RFID tag using one or more portable RFID readers and transmitting the updated maintenance information to the OFN-component-data database unit to provide an updated maintenance map. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising using the updated maintenance map to plan and/or schedule OFN maintenance. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the OFN component data further comprises inventory data and the method further comprises using the inventory data to create an inventory map of the OFN. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the OFN component data further comprises inventory data and the method further comprises:
 using the inventory data to create an inventory map of the OFN; and   using both the inventory map and the maintenance map in performing maintenance operations.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising locating faults in the OFN. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising showing the spatial map of the OFN with a geographical map having geographical features, so as to locate the plurality of OFN components relative to the geographical features. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 locating at least one select OFN component based on the spatial map; and   reading the corresponding at least one RFID tag associated with the at least one select OFN component.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the OFN component data shows a relationship among two or more of the plurality of OFN components. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 using the OFN component data to identify which of the plurality of OFN components are associated with a particular subscriber.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 including in the OFN component data GPS coordinates indicating a location of the corresponding OFN component.   
     
     
         15 . A radio-frequency identification (RFID) method of provisioning service in an optical fiber network (OFN), comprising:
 reading OFN component data from at least one RFID tag associated with at least one corresponding OFN component of a plurality of OFN components that constitute the OFN, wherein the at least one RFID tag comprises OFN component data relating to a location and at least one property of the at least one corresponding OFN component;   using the OFN component data to determine where the at least one corresponding OFN component is located on a spatial map of the OFN showing a plurality of OFN component locations, the plurality of OFN component locations comprising a location for each of two or more of the plurality of OFN components; and   provisioning at least one service to a subscriber using the OFN component data and the plurality of OFN component locations on the spatial map.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  further comprising:
 recording and storing the OFN component data in an OFN-component-data database unit; and 
 automatically updating the OFN-component-data database unit by reading additional OFN component data from the at least one RFID tag using at least one mobile RFID reader. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the automatically updating of the OFN-component-data database unit occurs before the provisioning of the at least one service to the subscriber. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the automatically updating of the OFN-component-data database unit occurs after the provisioning of the at least one service to the subscriber. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the reading comprises reading using a mobile RFID reader. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising reading additional OFN component data from at least one RFID tag associated with at least one corresponding OFN component using the mobile RFID reader before the provisioning of the at least one service to the subscriber. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising reading additional OFN component data from at least one RFID tag associated with at least one corresponding OFN component using the mobile RFID reader during the provisioning of the at least one service to the subscriber. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising reading additional OFN component data from at least one RFID tag associated with at least one corresponding OFN component using the mobile RFID reader after the provisioning of the at least one service to the subscriber. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the provisioning of the at least one service to the subscriber further uses the at least one property of the at least one corresponding OFN component. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising showing the spatial map of the OFN with a geographical map having geographical features, so as to locate the plurality of OFN components relative to the geographical features. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 locating at least one select OFN component based on the spatial map; and   reading the corresponding at least one RFID tag associated with the at least one select OFN component.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the OFN component data further comprises inventory data and the method further comprises using the inventory data to create an inventory map of the OFN. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the OFN component data further comprises maintenance data and the method further comprises using the maintenance data to create a maintenance map of the OFN. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising automatically updating the OFN component data in the at least one RFID tag using a mobile RFID reader. 
     
     
         29 . A radio-frequency identification (RFID) method of locating a fault in an optical fiber network (OFN), comprising:
 reading OFN component data from at least one RFID tag associated with at least one corresponding OFN component of a plurality of OFN components that constitute the OFN, wherein the at least one RFID tag comprises OFN component data relating to a location and at least one property of the at least one corresponding OFN component;   using the OFN component data to determine where the at least one corresponding OFN component is located on a spatial map of the OFN showing a plurality of OFN component locations, the plurality of OFN component locations comprising a location for each of two or more of the plurality of OFN components; and   locating a fault in the OFN using the OFN component data and the plurality of OFN component locations on the spatial map.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 recording and storing the OFN component data in an OFN-component-data database unit; and   automatically updating the OFN-component-data database unit by reading additional OFN component data from the at least one RFID tag using at least one mobile RFID reader.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the automatically updating the OFN-component-data database unit occurs before the locating a fault. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the automatically updating the OFN-component-data database unit occurs after the locating a fault. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the reading comprises reading using a mobile RFID reader. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising reading additional OFN component data from at least one RFID tag associated with at least one corresponding OFN component using the mobile RFID reader before the locating a fault. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising reading additional OFN component data from at least one RFID tag associated with at least one corresponding OFN component using the mobile RFID reader during the locating a fault. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 33 , further comprising reading additional OFN component data from at least one RFID tag associated with at least one corresponding OFN component using the mobile RFID reader after the locating a fault. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the locating a fault further uses the at least one property of the at least one corresponding OFN component. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising showing the spatial map of the OFN with a geographical map having geographical features, so as to locate the plurality of OFN components relative to geographical features. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 29 , further comprising:
 locating at least one select OFN component based on the spatial map; and   reading the corresponding at least one RFID tag associated with the at least one select OFN component.   
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the OFN component data further comprises inventory data and the method further comprises using the inventory data to create an inventory map of the OFN. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the OFN component data further comprises maintenance data and the method further comprises using the maintenance data to create a maintenance map of the OFN. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 31 , further comprising automatically updating the OFN component data in the at least one RFID tag using the at least one mobile RFID reader. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 41 , further comprising automatically updating the maintenance map by updating maintenance data to the at least one RFID tag using the at least one mobile RFID reader. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 31 , further comprising automatically writing maintenance and/or repair data into the at least one RFID tag using the at least one mobile RFID reader.