GB2561835A

GB2561835A - Cabling network

Info

Publication number: GB2561835A
Application number: GB1706426.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gibson Shaun
Original assignee: Smart Asset Solutions Ltd
Current assignee: Smart Asset Solutions Ltd
Priority date: 2017-04-24
Filing date: 2017-04-24
Publication date: 2018-10-31
Also published as: GB201706426D0

Abstract

A cabling cabling network 10 has a connector node 28 and a dark fibre cable network 26 for installation in a building, the dark fibre network having a plurality of fibres 26" to be led from the connector node to respective tenant units 27. The dark fibre network may be an optical fiber network. The connector node comprises input ports for connection to respective tenant data streams from a plurality of different telecommunications service providers, output ports connected to respective fibres of the dark fibre cabling network, and a plurality of interconnects which are user-configurable and user re-configurable to enable each of the input ports to be individually connected to any of a number of different output ports. This allows service providers to connect to existing cabling rather than installing their own through the building. Aspects of the application also include cabling sensors, signal sensors, computer systems, cabling networks, cabling routing and attachment of antennae and transceivers and an antenna management system.

Description

(54) Title of the Invention: Cabling network

Abstract Title: Building cable management system (57) A cabling cabling network 10 has a connector node 28 and a dark fibre cable network 26 for installation in a building, the dark fibre network having a plurality of fibres 26 to be led from the connector node to respective tenant units 27. The dark fibre network may be an optical fiber network. The connector node comprises input ports for connection to respective tenant data streams from a plurality of different telecommunications service providers, output ports connected to respective fibres of the dark fibre cabling network, and a plurality of interconnects which are user-configurable and user re-configurable to enable each of the input ports to be individually connected to any of a number of different output ports. This allows service providers to connect to existing cabling rather than installing their own through the building. Aspects of the application also include cabling sensors, signal sensors, computer systems, cabling networks, cabling routing and attachment of antennae and transceivers and an antenna management system.

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Figure 1

CABLING NETWORK

The present invention relates to a cabling network for installation in a shared space, and especially in a shared building.

Tenants within a single shared building may choose to use various different telecommunications service providers. Despite the increasing uptake of wireless networking technologies such as Wi-Fi (registered trade mark), most organisations choose to connect to their telecoms service provider through a wired link. Even in the case of wireless broadband systems, which use a wireless link (often between a transmitter maintained by the service provider and an antenna mounted on the roof of a building) for data transmission, the connection from the tenant's system to the antenna is typically made using cabling routed through the building.

Within the building, cabling is often routed through risers - vertical closets extending away from a telecommunications room to the building's various floors. On each relevant floor, cabling extends from the riser to each relevant tenant unit.

Management of cabling and of connectivity within the building can be troublesome for a landlord, for several reasons.

In the absence of an adaptable and managed system of cabling in the building, it is common practice for particular tenants/service providers to have cabling installed through the building on an essentially ad hoc basis. Thus for example a new tenant, upon moving into the building, may install new cabling from the telecommunications room to their tenant unit. While it is the norm for the service provider to remove this dedicated cabling at some future point in time (e.g. on expiry of the service contract), this rarely happens in practice. Over time, tenants move, or change their service provider, and redundant cabling typically remains in position. The result can be that risers contain a large number of different sets of cables, some active and some redundant, making maintenance and management complex. In cases of accidental damage for example, it may be difficult to identify who caused the damage and who is responsible for remedial action. The landlord will typically not be in a position to monitor which parts of the cabling are active, and which have become redundant and could be removed without impairing service to tenants.

The different service providers will typically have wayleave agreements giving them rights of access to parts of the building for installation and maintenance of their on-site network equipment. With multiple service providers and potentially multiple sets of cabling from individual providers, and with cabling from different providers leading to different areas of the building, management of these wayleave agreements is in itself an administrative challenge.

In accordance with a first aspect ofthe present invention there is a cabling network according to claim 1.

Specific embodiments ofthe present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a building incorporating a cabling network embodying the present invention; and

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a telecommunications node embodying the present invention.

Nomenclature

The following apply throughout the present description and the claims.

The terms cable and cabling refer to any tangible conduit for conducting data from one point to another and encompass fibre optic cables and electrical cables. Fibre refers to an individual signal carrying element in a cable, which may be an optical fibre but may be an electrical conductor, for example a copper wire.

The term wired in relation to data exchange refers to an arrangement in which data is transmitted through cabling, which again may be of any tangible form and is not limited to electrical wiring and may comprise optical fibre.

The term tenant refers to any occupant of a building, be that an individual or an organisation. Landlord refers to the individual or organisation which manages digital telecommunications within a building, regardless of whether he/she/it owns the building or has any particular relationship with the building's tenants. A tenant unit is an area within the building which requires telecommunications connectivity to a specified provider, and may or may not be the premises of a single tenant.

The term shared building refers to any form of building having multiple tenants.

The term external cabling refers to cabling outside the building.

Building arrangement

The building 10 depicted in Figure 1 has telecommunications connections through conventional external cabling 12, which in this example is buried, although it could in other cases be suspended, leading to a telecommunications room 14. The cabling 12 is installed and maintained by the various telecoms providers used by tenants of the building. It will typically include cabling from several such providers. In the present example the building 10 actually has two telecoms rooms, the second being designated 16 and having associated external cabling 18, so that this particular building has two routes for wired external connectivity.

The building 10 additionally has wireless broadband connectivity. The drawing shows a single roofmounted wireless broadband antenna 20. In practice there may be several such antennae provided.

Respective cabling risers 22, 24 extend from each of the telecoms rooms 14, 16 to each of the floors of the building 10.

Dark fibre network

A network of dark fibre cabling 26 is provided running, from telecoms room 14/16 to individual tenant units represented by squares 27 in the drawing. The term dark as used in this context refers to the fact that the cabling is not dedicated to use by any specific telecommunications service provider. In the present embodiment the cabling in question comprises optical fibres, but other cabling technology including electrical wiring could be used in other embodiments. The cabling in question will typically be installed and maintained on behalf of the landlord by a management service. A single, adaptable network 26 of dark fibre cabling can be used for most or all of the building's wired telecommunications connections. In the present embodiment the dark fibre cabling network includes a respective, dedicated fibre leading from the telecommunications room 14/16 to each of the tenant units 27. Additional fibres may be directed to other parts of the building for other purposes, for example to provide WiFi in public areas. The dark fibre cabling is led through the risers 22, 24 to the individual floors of the building, and may for example be routed underfloor or through suspended ceiling space to the individual tenant units.

Connections between (a) the external cabling 12/18 and (b) the dark fibre cabling network 26 are controlled by means of a cabling node 28 which is depicted in Figure 2. In the present embodiment the node 28 is in the telecommunications room 14. It is represented in Figure 2, to which attention is now directed.

Node

The node 28 is housed in an access controlled enclosure 30, which takes the form of a cage with at least one lockable access door in the present embodiment. External cabling from multiple service providers is designated 12a-12d in Figure 2, each fibre bundle being associated with a different provider and providing a data stream from that provider, and being led into the enclosure 30 from the exterior of the building. Each fibre bundle 12a-12d is led to a respective access-controlled compartment 32a-32d, each housing the equipment of the respective service provider. This equipment may be carried on conventional racks in the compartments 32 and may for example comprise an ISP's routers and related equipment. A power supply 34 drives the equipment and is resilient against mains power outages. This may be achieved by provision of a back-up power source for use during outages, such as a battery source.

Control of access by the service providers for maintenance and related purposes is straightforward to manage because each provider need only access the equipment in its own compartment 32. Maintenance of the dark fibre cabling network 26 is not the responsibility of the individual service providers, and they need not be granted access to that.

Individual service providers may of course service multiple tenants within the building. Outputs from the equipment of an individual service provider may thus comprise multiple output cables 36, each carrying a data stream for a respective tenant.

The provider output cables 36 are led to a connector node 38 which selectively and re-configurably connects them to fibres 26' of the dark fibre network 26. The connector node 38 has a set of input ports connected to respective output cables 36 providing tenant data streams. It has a set of output ports connected to respective fibres 26' of the dark fibre network 26. And it has a set of interconnects each connectable between a selected input port and a selected output port to connect a chosen provider output cable 36 to a chosen tenant unit 27. Configuration of the connector node thus involves simply connecting interconnects to route each tenant's data stream to the dark fibre leading to the relevant tenant unit. When for example a tenant chooses to switch service provider, the necessary reconfiguration can be carried out merely by moving that tenant's interconnect to a different input port, associated with the new provider, with no need for installation of new wiring through the building. The configuration and re-configuration of the connector node 38 is a manual process in the present embodiment, involving physically connecting each interconnect to a chosen output port. In other embodiments the connections may be made using an automated mechanism, or data may be digitally routed to individual fibres of the dark network 26.

Note that the terms input and output as used in the present context, while convenient, do not place any limit on the direction in which data is transmitted. That is, data may be transmitted in the direction from the input to the output and vice versa.

Data feeds for multiple tenants could be supplied through individual fibres 26' of the dark fibre network using multiplexing.

The arrangement provides numerous advantages:

1. Secure access. The node's enclosure 30 is gated and lockable, and in the present embodiment it is also monitored by at least one on-site camera whose feed is either recorded or supplied in real time to a management service, enabling unauthorised access to be prevented and/or monitored.

2. Plug and play provider interface. For ISPs and other telecommunications service providers, the arrangement removes any need for cable installation through a building and enables connection to a customer's unit merely by re-configuration of the connector node 38, which is very straightforward and rapid.

3. Riser management can be the responsibility of a single organisation and - using a single dark fibre network - can be relatively straightforward. Improvements in reliability can thus be expected.

4. Carrier neutrality - the system gives tenants the freedom to use any supported network provider without requiring additional internal cabling.

Wireless broadband

The illustrated cabling network is suited to use with wireless broadband systems as well as wired systems. The dark fibre network 26 includes cabling 26” from the node 28 to the building's rooftop plant area, where a fibre breakout is provided along with containment for the hosting of wireless service provider equipment such as antennae 20. All a wireless service provider need do in order to supply a data stream to the node is to:

mount their antenna in a pre-approved location on the roof and install cabling from that location to the equipment hosting location;

install their router at the hosting location;

connect a patch cord from the router to the fibre breakout point, which can be arranged adjacent the hosting location.

With the connection to the node 28 established, data streams to individual tenants can be formed by suitably configuring the connector node 38 as previously described.

Fibre activity detection system

The present embodiment further comprises a fibre activity detection system (FAD) which is not depicted but which comprises a set of optical activity sensors each attached to a respective optical fibre to detect data transmission through it. In the present embodiment the interconnects have respective activity sensors configured to detect light therein. Outputs of the activity sensors are led to a computing system. In the present embodiment the activity sensors transmit their outputs wirelessly. The computing system implements a graphical user interface for communicating the condition of the cabling network to a user. In the present embodiment this takes the form of a dashboard. The computing system stores the current configuration of the connector node 38, which can be manually input and updated through the dashboard, or can be automatically monitored. Using this configuration data, the computing system is able to establish based on the activity sensor outputs which tenants are receiving service from which provider. The computing system tags usage of the dark fibre network 26 to the relevant tenant, or to a particular service making use of the network, such as the building management system (BMS).

Where usage is tagged to a tenant then a wayleave instance is also attributed to this tenant usage which sets a date limit on the tenant's exclusive right to the relevant physical fibre of the dark fibre network 26. Upon expiry of this date limit an alert is triggered by the computing system to disconnect the fibre, or to take other suitable action.

Riser activity detection

In order to detect unauthorised activity in relation to the dark fibre network 26, the present embodiment incorporates a fibre activity detection system (FAD). This comprises sensors associated with the cabling of the dark fibre network 26 configured to detect disturbances of them. In the present embodiment the sensors take the form of accelerometers attached to the cabling, although sensors of other suitable types may be used. They may be self-contained and self-powered wireless units physically attached to the cabling. Suitable wireless tags are known and commercially available. They may communicate with the computing system according to a known wireless standard such as LoRaWAN. Outputs of the sensors are received by the computing system which is thus able to detect unauthorised activity and to respond appropriately, e.g. by issuing an alarm and/or by making a suitable record of the event.

Wireless antenna tracking and rooftop management

With respect to wireless provider services it is advantageous to keep track of antenna location and antenna orientation in order to monitor frequency usage on the roof. The present cabling network incorporates a wireless antenna tracking (WAT) facility using tracking tags coupled to the roof6 mounted antennae 20. The tracking tags may have one or both of (a) a positioning function and (b) an orientation monitoring function. Both functions may be implemented using a satellite-based positioning system which may be GPS or any successor or substitute technology including the Galileo positioning system. Alternatively either or both functions may be implemented using other suitable technology such as beacon-based wireless trilateration and beacon-based orientation monitoring. The tracking tag may be coupled to an antenna mount and adjusted to align with the antenna itself. Outputs of the tracking sensors may be transmitted to the computing system wirelessly, e.g. according to the known LoRaWAN wireless standard. The computing system thus receives up to date information on the locations and beam directions of antennae on the roof, which can be output through the dashboard to building management and can be used to keep track of physical and frequency separation on the roof space.

Exploitation for mobile network cell sites

A building's rooftop has potential value as a site for radio transceivers used in data networks. The cabling network according to the present invention makes it possible to provide, in a flexible, economical and straightforward manner, a data connection between a radio antenna and a regional data centre. Installation and connection of the antenna can - as described above - be achieved without need of dedicated cabling through a building, making it easy for landlords to offer their roof space to organisations in need of antenna sites.

This is expected to be especially important in relation to the planned 5^th generation (5G) mobile telephone (cell phone) network. Although 5G has greatly enhanced data bandwidth of up to 100Mbps per mobile handset, this comes at the cost of having less range than existing 3G/4G implementations. Consequently the existing footprint of mobile network operators is not sufficient to provide full coverage. To address this, mobile (cellular) service providers will need to create (a) additional Large Cell sites on rooftops and/or (b) additional Small Cells on rooftops. Landlords are often averse to installation of Large Cells due to the difficulty of removing them, so Small Cells are seen as a key part of the solution to the problem of 5G coverage.

At present typical Large Cell sites have something of the order of lGbps capacity to support 3G/4G. As data rates will increase to around 100Mbps per mobile device with the introduction of 5G there will be a pressing requirement to introduce lOGbps and upwards capacity links at many sites to support the data demands on the network.

The dark fibre network of the present invention can have ample capacity for these rates of data transfer, so that ability to backhaul data need only be limited by the equipment the network operator chooses to install on the rooftop, and the capacity of the data centre at the other end of the optical fibre connection.

So the present invention provides mobile network operators with easy access to landlords' rooftops for placement of Small Cells (and in suitable cases Large Cells) and thus ameliorates two of the biggest hurdles they face - (1) agreement to install equipment and (2) connection of the equipment to the network. Once a Cell is installed, data is transmitted via the building's dark fibre network 26 to a regional data centre where the traffic is handed off to the mobile network operator in question.

The arrangement for connecting a mobile Cell can be similar to that for connecting a mobile broadband antenna. Figure 1 shows an antenna 40 of a mobile cell connected via a patch cord and a rooftop fibre breakout point (not shown) to dark fibre cabling 26 leading to the connector node 28 and so to an external network. Connection can again be achieved rapidly and with a minimum of installation work, without a need for dedicated cabling through the building.

Claims

1. A cabling network for a shared building having multiple tenant units, the cabling network comprising a connector node and a dark fibre network for installation in the building, the dark fibre network having a plurality of fibres to be led from the connector node to respective tenant units, and the connector node having input ports for connection to respective tenant data streams from a plurality of different telecommunications service providers, output ports connected to respective fibres of the dark fibre cabling network, and a plurality of interconnects which are user-configurable and user re-configurable to enable each of the input ports to be individually connected to any of a number of different output ports.

2. A cabling network as claimed in any preceding claim which further comprises sensors associated with cabling of the dark fibre network for detecting activity affecting it, the sensors being configured to transmit their results to a computing system to enable such activity to be logged and/or to trigger a signal to a user.

3. A cabling network as claimed in claim 2 in which the sensors comprise accelerometers configured to detect movement of the said cabling.

4. A cabling network as claimed in any preceding claim further comprising signal sensors associated with respective signal-conducting fibres and configured to detect signal transmission therethrough, and to output respective signals indicative ofthe presence or absence of signal transmission.

5. A cabling network as claimed in claim 4 in which the signal sensors are associated with respective interconnects.

6. A cabling network as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5 further comprising a computer system configured to receive the signal sensors' outputs and to provide a user with information indicating which fibres are active and which inactive.

7. A cabling network as claimed in claim 6 in which the computer system is configured to receive and store information indicating which input port is connected to which output port, and to represent that information to a user in graphical form.

8. A cabling network as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 in which the computer system is configured to tag usage of a fibre of the dark fibre network to a specific tenant.

9. A cabling network as claimed in claim 8 in which the computer system is configured to set time limits on usage of specified fibres of the dark fibre network by specified tenants, and to initiate a warning or action when any of the time limits expires.

10. A cabling network as claimed in any preceding claim in which the connector node is provided with multiple access controlled compartments for installation of equipment from respective telecommunications service providers, provision being made for connection of that equipment to the network of the relevant service provider through external cabling.

11. A cabling network in which data streams for individual tenants are led from the access controlled compartments to respective input ports.

12. A cabling network as claimed in any preceding claim in which the connector node is housed in an access controlled enclosure.

13. A cabling network as claimed in any preceding claim which further comprises an antenna for receiving wireless broadband, the antenna being connected through the dark fibre network to the connector node, from which data received through the antenna is transmitted through the dark fibre network to one or more tenants.

14. A cabling network as claimed in any preceding claim which is installed in a building and in which the dark fibre network comprises cabling leading to a fibre breakout at a rooftop plant area of the building, enabling rooftop mounted antennae to be connected through the dark fibre network and through the connector node to a network external to the building.

15. A cabling network as claimed in claim 14 in which at least one mobile network (cellular network) transceiver is mounted on the building's rooftop and is connected via the cable breakout, the dark fibre network and the connector node to the network of a mobile (cellular) service provider.

16. A cabling network as claimed in any preceding claim provided with an antenna management system comprising position and/or orientation sensing devices attachable to antennae mounted on the building, and a computing device configured to receive outputs of the sensing devices and to record positions and/or orientations of antennae on the building.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: Claims searched:

GB 1706426.2 1