Fiber connector assembly

Abstract

The present disclosure provides embodiments of fiber optic cable connectors, sleeves for fiber optic cable connectors, fiber optic cable adapters and fiber optic connector assemblies that incorporate intelligent systems that can identify presence and exchange information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fiber optic cable connector assembly comprising:
 a fiber optic cable connector having a connector housing and a ferrule extending from the connector housing;   a sleeve having a sleeve body with a central sleeve opening, a media interface housing extending from the sleeve body and at least one electrical storage media within the media interface housing, the sleeve being configured to fit over the connector housing; and   a fiber optic cable adapter having an adapter housing comprising:
 an adapter body having a central adapter opening configured to receive at least the ferrule; 
 a presence detecting switch configured to actuate when the ferrule is inserted into the central adapter opening; and 
 a storage media interface that is capable of reading from and writing to the at least one electrical storage media. 
   
     
     
         2 . The fiber optic cable connector assembly according to  claim 1 , further comprising an RFID tag secured to the sleeve body. 
     
     
         3 . The fiber optic cable connector assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the fiber optic cable connector comprises a single fiber cable connector and the fiber optic cable adapter comprises a single fiber cable adapter. 
     
     
         4 . The fiber optic cable connector assembly according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one electrical storage media comprises an EEPROM. 
     
     
         5 . A fiber optic cable connector assembly comprising:
 a fiber optic cable connector having a connector housing and a ferrule extending from the connector housing;   a sleeve configured to fit over the connector housing, the sleeve comprising:
 a sleeve body with a central sleeve opening; 
 a media interface housing extending from the sleeve body and having at least one electrical storage media within the media interface housing; and 
 a RFID tag secured to the sleeve body; 
   a fiber optic cable adapter having an adapter housing comprising:
 an adapter body having a central adapter opening configured to receive at least the ferrule; 
 a presence detecting switch configured to actuate when the ferrule is inserted into the central adapter opening; and 
 a storage media interface that is capable of reading from and writing to the at least one electrical storage media. 
   
     
     
         6 . The fiber optic cable connector assembly according to  claim 5 , wherein the fiber optic cable connector comprises a single fiber cable connector and the fiber optic cable adapter comprises a single fiber cable adapter. 
     
     
         7 . The fiber optic cable connector assembly according to  claim 5 , wherein the at least one electrical storage media comprises an EEPROM. 
     
     
         8 . A fiber optic cable connector comprising:
 a connector housing and a ferrule extending from the connector housing; and   a sleeve having a sleeve body with a central sleeve opening, a media interface housing extending from the sleeve body and at least one electrical storage media within the media interface housing, the sleeve being configured to fit over the connector housing.   
     
     
         9 . The fiber optic cable connector according to  claim 8 , further comprising an RFID tag secured to the sleeve body. 
     
     
         10 . The fiber optic cable connector according to  claim 8 , wherein the connector housing comprises a single fiber cable connector housing. 
     
     
         11 . The fiber optic cable connector according to  claim 8 , wherein the at least one electrical storage media comprises an EEPROM.