Abstract:
A communication cable interface having a plurality of interface input jacks, each interface input jack capable of receiving an input connector of a service provider communication cable. The interface has an interface output jack for outputting a plurality of service provider signals onto another communication cable and into a distribution panel for distribution of signals to cabling that has been run throughout a residence. The signals are combined from the interface input jacks onto the interface output jack in a one-to-one relationship among terminals of the respective jacks.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Communication capability is increasingly important in both commercial and residential buildings. In particular, there is competition to provide telecommunication and other services to multi-dwelling unit (MDU) buildings, especially high-rise and sprawling MDU buildings. Several companies compete to bring communication facilities such as FTTP (Fiber-to-the-Premises), POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), coaxial cable, satellite, and others to MDU buildings to provide services such as voice, video, data and others. 
     Traditionally, service provider cables entered an MDU building by, for example, a basement through means of an entrance facility. These cables and associated equipment were often installed and terminated at a central location, such as a dedicated telecommunications room from which building distribution wires, often cables in building distribution conduits, distributed the service to customers in living units throughout the building. Service provider personnel thus are required to access both the dedicated telecommunications room and the customer living unit in order to install the wiring required to provide service to the customer. 
     Once service was extended up to a living unit by building distribution wiring, service provider personnel would distribute service within the living unit by installing inside wiring or by accessing already existing wiring. Pre-positioning living unit inside wiring to allow multiple service providers gives the building owner and developer an added market value. 
     The building owner or developer may choose to provide access to this inside wiring through means of a single modular jack on a unit distribution panel in the living unit that distributes up to four communication services throughout the living unit. The customer then allows a single service provider personnel to connect service to the unit distribution panel jack. 
     Multiple service providers compete to provide telecommunication service. Moreover, customers often desire a multiplicity of services to be accessible at service outlets. However, this was often not possible with systems and methods of the prior art. Thus, there is a need for systems and methods to allow multiple service providers to access living unit inside wiring in MDU buildings. 
     It is to be understood that the following detailed description is exemplary and explanatory only and is not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate several embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is an example of a MDU building system. 
         FIG. 2  is an example of a Category-5 cable termination to a RJ-45 type plug connector, shown as a break-away diagram. 
         FIG. 3  is an example of a distribution panel 
         FIG. 4  is an example of a unit distribution panel and an interface. 
         FIG. 5A  is a pictorial view of an embodiment of an interface. 
         FIG. 5B  is a schematic diagram of line parings between interface input jacks and interface output jacks. 
         FIG. 6  is an alternative embodiment showing a schematic of an interface arranged with a matrix-like pattern of interface input jacks. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the present exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. 
       FIG. 1  shows an exemplary system  100  to enable service provider access to pre-installed living unit inside wiring, such as unit distribution wiring  205  of living units  212  of a MDU building  200 . Telecommunication service providers may deliver various services to the building by copper wire, fiber optics, satellite, free space optics or other transmission capabilities, as represented by cables  201  in  FIG. 1 . Cables  201  enter building  200  through the basement. A building distribution panel  202  terminates cables  201  and routes signals to individual living units  212  in building  200  via distribution wiring, such as building distribution wiring  203 . Some buildings also route doorbell  209  or concierge services to building distribution panel  202  for distribution to living units  212  via distribution wiring. Distribution wiring can enter an individual living unit  212  and can be directly routed throughout the living unit or, as shown in  FIG. 1 , building distribution wiring  203  can be routed to a unit distribution panel  204  in a service closet  211 . Signals from building distribution wiring  203  are coupled via unit distribution panel  204  to unit distribution wiring  205 . Unit distribution wiring  205  terminates at service outlets  210  installed at locations in the living unit such as a family room, bedroom, or office. The customer may then connect a device such as a computer  208 , telephone  206 , television  207 , or router (not shown) to service outlet  210  to obtain service on that device. 
     Unit distribution wiring  205  may be provided in the form of shielded or unshielded cable such as twisted-pair, Category-3, Category-4, Category-5, etc. Typically, the cable of unit distribution wiring  205  is made up of multiple pairs of wires. Telecommunication services are typically provided using a single pair of wires, though some services, such as doorbell service, are capable of operation on only one wire of a cable. 
     Though many types of cable are available, an exemplary embodiment will be explained using Category-5 (Cat-5) type cable.  FIG. 2  shows a break-away diagram of an exemplary Cat-5 cable termination to an RJ-45 (Registered Jack) type plug connector  224 . Cat-5 cable has four pairs of wires  220  with ends  221  that electrically connect to eight respective connector terminals  222  of connector  224 . Wires  220  are connected to the connector terminals  222  according to an industry-standard pattern such as 568A, 568B, or USOC, though a straight-line connection has been shown in  FIG. 2 . Many service providers use only the center two connector terminals  222  at positions  4  and  5  of the connector  224 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a detailed view of a unit distribution panel  204 . For clarity, many features have been omitted. Building distribution wiring  203  terminates at unit distribution panel  204 . Unit distribution wiring  205  also terminates at the distribution panel  204 . As an example, one cable of building distribution wiring  203  terminates to a service provider jack  306  having service provider terminals  307  electrically connected to individual wires of building distribution wiring  203 . Though jack-type (ferrule) connectors have been illustrated on the unit distribution panel  204 , some unit distribution panels  204  may employ plug (male) connectors, or both jack and plug connectors. 
     A jumper  310 , shown schematically in  FIG. 3 , may be used to electrically connect service provider jack  306  to unit distribution jack  308  having unit distribution terminals  309  electrically connected to individual wires  220  of unit distribution wiring  205 . It can be seen that unit distribution panel  204  may have multiple service provider jacks  306  for a single unit distribution jack  308 . 
     As noted above, service providers often use only a single pair of wires by electrically connecting two wires of building distribution wiring  203  to the center two service provider terminals  307  of a service provider jack  306 . With four service providers, as shown in  FIG. 3 , only eight wires are required. Unit distribution wiring  205  includes one Cat-5 cable, providing a total of eight wires  220 , with the potential to deliver service from four service providers throughout living unit  212 . However, the eight wires  220  of unit distribution wiring  205  terminate in one unit distribution jack  308 . Thus, if a service provider uses a jumper  310  with RJ-45 connectors  224  to couple service provider signals to unit distribution jack  308 , that service provider effectively blocks access to the remaining wires  220  of the Cat-5 cable of unit distribution wiring  205 . Only one service provider may be connected at unit distribution panel  204 , thereby leaving the remaining service providers with no way to gain access to living unit  212 . This arrangement also leaves six wires of the eight wires  220  of unit distribution wiring  205  unused. 
       FIG. 4  shows unit distribution panel  204  of  FIG. 3  used with a communication line interface  400 , according to an exemplary embodiment. As can be seen in  FIG. 4 , interface  400  includes a plurality of interface input connectors, such as RJ-45 jacks  401 - 404 . Interface  400  also includes an interface output connector such as RJ-45 jack  405 . Input jacks  401 - 404  are configured to receive corresponding cable input connectors of input cables, such as RJ-45 plugs attached to input jumpers  311   a - 311   d  coupled through service provider jacks  306  to cables of building distribution wiring  203 . Interface output jack  405  is configured to receive a cable output connector such as an RJ-45 plug attached to an output jumper  312  coupled through unit distribution jack  308  to a cable of unit distribution wiring  205 . Service provider signals are transferred from the building distribution wiring  203 , through the service provider jacks  306 , into the input jacks  401 - 404 , across routing conductors, out interface output conductor  405  and back in to distribution panel  204  through unit distribution jack  308 , and onto Cat-5 cable of unit distribution wiring  205  for distribution to outlets  210 . 
     In one embodiment, interface  400  enables multiple service providers to connect to unit distribution panel  204  in a manner that can utilize all of the wires on unit distribution wiring  205 . In this configuration, interface  400  accepts jumpers  311   a - 311   d  from four service provider jacks  306  of a unit distribution panel into interface input jacks  401 ,  402 ,  403 ,  404 . Interface  400  provides electrical connection of the inputted service provider signals to terminals of an interface output jack  405  using routing conductors, which electrically connect interface input terminals to interface output terminals. The routing conductors may comprise discrete wires, printed circuit wiring or another type of conductor. 
     As an example, a living unit  212  can have a first telephone line Line  1  connected to a jack  306  of unit distribution panel  204  by a first service provider. The same service provider, or another, may provide a second telephone line Line  2  connected to a second jack  306 . Another service provider could provide an additional service on Line  3  at another jack  306 . The doorbell  209 , concierge or yet another service provider could provide a service on Line  4  of a jack  306  on unit distribution panel  204 . All four providers may then be, by jumpers  310 , routed to respective interface input jacks  401 - 404  of the interface  400 , through internal routing of the interface  400 , to interface output jack  405 . If the living unit  212  has only a single Cat-5 cable for unit distribution wiring  205 , Line  1  through Line  4  could be occupied by telephone, data, doorbell, or any other services capable of interfacing with Line  1  through Line  4 . 
       FIG. 5A  shows a pictorial view of interface  400  using all RJ-45 type jacks. Other jack types can be substituted with their corresponding differences in terminal numbers. It is also possible to use jack type connectors that can receive more than one type of cable connector. In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 5A , the RJ-45 jacks can receive either RJ-11 type plugs or RJ-45 type plugs. In an alternative embodiment, interface input jacks  401 - 404  can be RJ-11 type, and interface output jack  405  can be RJ-45 type. In another embodiment, instead of RJ-45 connectors, 8P8C type connectors can be used, which can have a corresponding change in wiring pattern at the connector terminals to 568A, 568B, or USOC. In other alternative embodiments, other numbers of interface input jacks can be used, as well as other numbers of actively used terminals. 
       FIG. 5B  is an electrical schematic view of the interface  400 . Each of jacks  401 - 405  may include eight terminals labeled  1 - 8 . The actively used terminals of jacks  401 - 405  are indicated with vertical lines extending upwardly therefrom. In this example, routing conductors electrically connect interface input terminals with interface output terminals using pairs of routing conductors at each interface input terminal. Each interface input routing conductor pair is routed to a corresponding pair of interface output routing conductors at interface output terminals following a predetermined pattern. One possible routing pattern is shown following an exemplary 568A pattern at interface output jack  405 . Each active terminal at positions  4  and  5  of respective interface input jacks  401 - 404  is routed to a respective separate terminal on interface output jack  405 . Line  1  of interface input jack  401  is routed as PAIR  1  to interface output terminals  4  and  5 . Line  2  of interface input jack  402  is routed as PAIR  2  to interface output terminals  3  and  6 . Line  3  of interface input jack  403  is routed as PAIR  3  to interface output terminals  1  and  2 . Line  4  of interface input jack  404  is routed as PAIR  4  to interface output terminals  7  and  8 . 
       FIG. 6  shows a schematic of an alternative embodiment, using an interface  500  having a matrix-like pattern of interface input jacks  501 ,  502 ,  503 , and  504 . Interface output jack  505  is distinguished in position from interface input jacks  501 - 504 . Other arrangements and configurations of input jacks and output jacks may be contemplated to accommodate different sizes or shapes of connectors, or to accommodate space, mounting, or stability requirements near unit distribution panel  204 . 
     Other cable types, with different numbers of wires, wire connectors, wire pairings, and corresponding interface changes are contemplated. Likewise, though only four interface input jacks  401 - 404  have been shown, other numbers of interface input jacks can be used with a corresponding change at the interface output jack  405 . Other numbers of interface input terminals can also be actively used, with a corresponding change in routing conductors to route signals from the interface input jacks to an interface output jack, and with a corresponding change in the number of terminals on the interface output jack  405 . 
     Interface  400  may also have more than one interface output jack to correspond to a larger number of unit distribution jacks  308  on unit distribution panel  204 . This multi-output interface would have a corresponding multiplicity of interface input jacks organized to optimize wire usage on each cable of unit distribution wiring  205 . Unit distribution wiring  205  may also comprise more than one cable, and more than one type of cable, with a corresponding change in the number and type of unit distribution jack  308 . In this embodiment, either a multi-output interface would be needed, or multiple interfaces would be needed, each with corresponding interface output jacks  405 . 
     Though one MDU building has been shown and described, a high-rise or a sprawling MDU building, stand-alone dwelling, town home or other structure can also benefit from the interface described herein. Though living units have been shown and described, the interface can also be used in business settings. 
     Internal distribution panels have been shown and described, but the interface  400  can be used with entrance facilities, telecommunication rooms, communication nodes, closets or hotels, and the interface can be used at distribution panel  202 . Other types of distribution panels  202  and  204  are also contemplated, including distribution panels that do not have service provider terminations or jacks  306 . In this alternative, a service provider routes building distribution wiring to a living unit  212  and connects to interface  400 , which is connected to a unit distribution jack  308 . Alternatively, a service provider routes cables  201  to a building  200  and connects to interface  400 , which is connected to a building distribution jack on a distribution panel  202 . 
     The interface  400  can also connect to a spliced cable of unit distribution wiring  205 . In this alternative, individual wires of unit distribution wiring  205  are connected to an appropriate stand-alone or modular connector, such as a Cat-5 cable connection to an RJ-45 jack or plug. The interface  400  then connects via interface output connector  405  and cable output connector  312  to the stand-alone or modular connector jack to allow service provider access the individual wires of unit distribution wiring  205 . When the stand-alone or modular connector is a plug, the unit distribution wiring  205  may plug directly into interface output connector  405 . 
     As an alternative to using cable input connectors  311   a - 311   d  to connect to interface input connectors  401 - 404 , a service provider could by-pass the use of cable input connectors  311   a - 311   d  by plugging directly in to an interface input connector  401 - 404  with an appropriate service provider wiring input connector electrically connected service provider wiring. 
     In the preceding specification, various preferred embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however, be evident that various other modifications and changes may be made thereto, and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing from the broader scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.