WO2003030307A1

WO2003030307A1 - Improvements in broadband filter installations and connections

Info

Publication number: WO2003030307A1
Application number: PCT/GB2002/004419
Authority: WO
Inventors: Juan Tomas Arias; Jose Manuel Jorde
Original assignee: Tyco Electronics Raychem S.A.; Tyco Electronics Uk Ltd
Priority date: 2001-10-04
Filing date: 2002-09-26
Publication date: 2003-04-10
Also published as: PL367539A1; BR0205959A; UA77955C2; AR036748A1; ES2193853A1; KR100623141B1; ES2193853B1; PE20030481A1; KR20040037198A; EP1433226A1; MY159016A; TR200300504T2

Abstract

Arrangement for installation and connection of electrical filter boards in a broadband telecommunications system, characterised in that each of said boards (1) is individually connected to the relevant wiring of the system by insertion of the board between contacts in a connector block (8) directly connected to the relevant wiring, without intervening printed circuit board and other connectors, and the connector block is located in an area of the system intended for distribution frames of the system.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN BROADBAND FILTER INSTALLATIONS AND

CONNECTIONS

D E S C R I P T I O N

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a number of improvements in broadband filter installations and connections, of those used in the field of telecommunications.

More specifically, said improvements are applicable to telephone networks used by different operators which provide transmission services to different users or consumers, the objective being to simplify greatly the circuit connections at the level of said broadband filters. The resulting reduction in the volume of the cabinets holding said circuits and in the cubicles which contain said cabinets permits connection of the broadband filters in any area intended for distribution frames serving the distribution and operation of telephone lines.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are several operators in the telecommunications sector which provide voice transmission services to different users or consumers, which requires a complex telephone network in which participate a number of electrical, mechanical, etc. components which allow to provide said service.

Essentially, in said telephone network participates a switching exchange in charge of providing the various signals and lines for voice utilisation, lines which are linked by long cable deployments to the respective horizontal and vertical distributors meant to allow the distribution and operability of said telephone lines, thus enabling the users to utilise the telephone network.

When data as well, and not only voice, are to be transmitted by a same operator, such as for video signals, Internet, etc. in a wide band a digital line access multiplexer is provided which receives voice signals from the horizontal distributors and broadband signals from the corresponding servers, such as an Internet server. Said multiplexer is complemented by filters or splitters which can add both signals and distribute them once again to the vertical distributors for transmission to the user. Before this signal is received by the user further filters or splitters are provided which separate the two signals, providing the user with a voice line and a broadband line.

In compliance with recent regulations, it has been established that the network on the street known as the customer loop may be shared by other operators. That is, a second operator must establish a similar system to that used by the same operator, utilising the cable deployed on the street belonging to the first operator.

When a second operator is established such operator must perform the same functions as were previously provided by the first operator, with sufficient independence to be able to use the voice signal provided by the first operator and the broadband signal received directly from the broadband server to the second operator, and be capable of providing the user with the same service using its own general structure, distributors, filters, etc..

In practice, and more specifically, these splitters are placed in large cabinets with the corresponding frames, in which are fitted printed circuit cards with the corresponding electrical components such as transformers, inducers, capacitors, resistances, connectors, etc. which can filter the incoming signals depending on the desired output.

Specifically, and as shown in figure 1, in the state of the art the cards (1) incorporate a card edge connector (2) with normally open contacts, and are connected through a printed circuit board (3) to another connector (4) located on the rear of the frames (5), all of these located in the splitter zone. From the rear area of the frames (5), and with another connector (6) and a cable (7), these are linked to the corresponding distributors, where the conventional connection blocks are provided, either open or closed. As mentioned before, card edge connector (2) has normally open contacts, so that its operation is similar to that of open contact blocks allowing connection of the data signal independent of the usual voice signal. The disadvantage of this is that in the event of a failure requiring to repair the card the user is unable to operate, albeit for a short time, as there are no available voice or data input signals until the card (1) is replaced by a new one, in order to repair the former.

In addition, the cards employed always include more than one filter, that is there are cards with "n + 1" filters, so that for a single user requiring the signal at least an n+1 filter card must be fitted, thereby having n filters unused until more users enter, with the resulting financial and material cost.

Furthermore, when one of the filters malfunctions and more than one user employs it, the entire board must be removed, leaving the other users without service until it is repaired, or secondary boards must be available, with the implied cost.

The large size of the cabinets which contain the filter circuits and their connections implies that specific areas are devoted to them as large cubicles which are always removed from the distribution area, with the resulting increase in cost due to land area required, materials, wiring, etc.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The improvements of the invention are meant to simplify installations and connections, mainly in the areas devoted to broadband filters or splitters, with resulting savings of cost and space. For this purpose and more specifically, one of the improvements of the invention consists of eliminating the open contact card edge connector, the aforementioned printed circuit board and its corresponding connectors, by performing the filter connections exclusively through connection blocks. This implies a great simplification of the installation, and in addition requires only a very simple rear frame for supporting the blocks, thereby reducing the space occupied and allowing installation of the filters in the areas meant for nearby intermediate distribution frames, before the voice band distribution frames employed for the distribution and operability of the telephone lines.

The use of said telecommunication connector block according to the object of the invention further allows to use individual filter boards for each user, enabling their extraction for repair in the event of a failure without leaving the rest of users without broadband service.

All of this allows in addition to connect individual filter boards to the connection blocks in areas meant for voice band distribution frames, by fitting a simple wiring on the boards themselves.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and further characteristics of the present invention will become apparent in view of the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment, where for purposes of illustration only the following is shown:

Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of the conventional technique for connection of broadband filters.

Figure 2 shows a scheme similar to figure 1 but with the connections performed in accordance with the improvements object of the present invention.

Figure 3 shows a sectional enlarged view of one of the contacts of the connection blocks may be used according to the invention to connect the filters directly to the system wiring without intervening printed circuit boards.

Figure 4 shows a schematic representation of one of the individual filter boards as disclosed by the invention.

Figure 5 shows in perspective one form of telecommunications connector block for use in accordance with the present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

As opposed to the conventional connection of filters shown in figure 1, which has been described above, according to one of the improvements of the invention the filter card (1 ') is connected to the corresponding connection cable (7) by a single connector block (8), preferably of the kind shown in Figure 5.

As is apparent from comparison of Figures 1 and 2, this invention enables the elimination of the conventional printed circuit board (3) and of its complementary connectors (4) and (6), as well as the elimination of the card edge connector (2) and the replacement of the frame (5) by a frame (5') which is considerably smaller. That is, by virtue of the simplicity of these connections the large frames required to hold conventional filters are eliminated, as well as the numerous connectors, thus reducing fabrication and material costs and requiring only a rear frame (5') for attaching the connector block, which by drastically reducing the space required allows in addition its installation in the areas meant for nearby distribution frames, before the voice band distribution frames.

As shown in figure 3, the block (8) has pairs of contacts (9) each of which pairs can receive between them and make electrical connection to the contacts of one of the filter boards, so that when there is a malfunction in the data signal represented by the arrow (10) it is enough to extract the corresponding filter board, without disturbing the adjacent filter boards. Closed contacts (9), as illustrated in this example, can maintain connection between the input (11) of the voice signal for the user and the corresponding output (12) when the filter board is extracted, to avoid leaving the user without voice signal service.

As shown in figure 4, a filter board (1) carrying a filter unit (13) is inserted between one of the multiple pairs of contacts in a connector block (8') and this may be repeated for other contact pairs to install a number of individual filter boards (1 '), that is, one for each user, which allow their individual extraction for repair in the event of a malfunction or unforeseen event without leaving other users without broadband service.

The incoming and outgoing signal wires (omitted for clarity) for each such filter board may be inserted respectively between the connection members 21 and 21' at opposite ends of the cavities 22 communicating between the opposite sides of the illustrative connector block shown in Figure 5. Contact portions of the filter boards may be inserted between the respective contacts in the cavities 22 to make electrical connection with the incoming and outgoing wires.

In order to facilitate connection of the individual filter boards (1 ') to other connector blocks housed in areas of the system intended for voiceband distribution frames, a simple wiring (14) is provided on the boards (1 ').

Claims

C L A I M S

1.- Arrangement for installation and connection of electrical filter boards in a broadband telecommunications system, characterised in that each of said boards (1) is individually connected to the relevant wiring of the system by insertion of the board between contacts in a connector block (8) directly connected to the relevant wiring, without intervening printed circuit board and other connectors, and the connector block is located in an area of the system intended for distribution frames of the system.

2.- Arrangement according to claim 1, characterised in that the said connector block is mounted in an intermediate distribution frame prior to a voiceband distribution frame of the system.

3.- Arrangement according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the said block (8) has closed contacts and has a data input (10), a voice input (11) and an output (12) which combines the two input signals, so that when a board (1 ') is extracted, connection is maintained between the voice input (11) and the output (12).

4.- Arrangement according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the filter boards employed are individual for a single user, so that they can be extracted without leaving other users without broadband service.

5.- Arrangement according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the filter boards have a simple wiring (14) to allow their connection to other connection blocks in the system.