Patent Description:
High bandwidth in-house or in-building data networks may be achieved by installing Ethernet cables or optical fibers for transporting data.

Because of (safety) regulation and electro-magnetic interference Ethernet cables are not allowed to be installed along electrical wires, although the tubing of the electrical wires may have enough space for additional cables.

Disadvantageously this means that separate tubing is to be installed for the Ethernet cables if such network were to be installed fixed and out-of-view. Furthermore, connecting an Ethernet cable to an Ethernet wall socket is difficult and time consuming as it requires special skills and equipment.

Optical fibers do not suffer from electro-magnetic interference and may be installed within the same tubing as the electrical wires. As with Ethernet cables, connecting an optical fiber to an optical wall socket is difficult as it requires special skills and equipment. Glass optical fibers are particularly difficult to install as they are difficult to cut and connect, and one has to be careful not to damage the end of the fiber.

Compared to wired data networks, wireless network alternatives are considered less favorable as wireless signals are more susceptible to interference from other signal sources and generally have a lower and less reliable bandwidth.

<CIT> discloses an installation system for multimedia applications wherein optical fibers from a central unit are made available through a socket outlet. The optical fibers may be either glass fibers or plastic optical fibers. The socket outlet also comprises pin holes for inserting electrical pins of a device to connect the device with the mains. The device contains a signal converter having an optical interface for converting light signals into electrical signals. When the device is inserted in the socket outlet by inserting the electrical pins in the corresponding pin holes, a signal transfer point for the optical signal is established.

There is a need for a solution enabling installation of in-house or in-building high bandwidth data networks more easily.

A high bandwidth in-house or in-building network is achieved by installing plastic optical fibers (POF) for transporting data via optical signals, possibly co-located with electrical wiring sharing the same tubing. The optical signals transported via POF cables are insusceptible to interference by other signal sources, as is the case with e.g. a WiFi signal that may suffer interference from appliances or other WiFi signals transmitting on similar radio frequencies. Compared to glass optical fiber a POF is easier to handle, as it is more bendable without breaking and easier to cut without damaging the end of the cable at the cut. A downside of glass fiber cables has been that the installation thereof requires special skills and equipment for connecting the end of the fiber to the device where the optical signal is converted into an electrical signal (generally referred to as a "converter"). POF cables do not require such complicated connection to converters, but do require a fixed connection of the converter. The present invention provides a solution for easy and flexible installation of POF cables in combination with converters, without requiring special skills that allows quick and easy adding and removing converters to the termination points of a possibly large and prepared, passive POF network.

As mentioned, optical signals transported via POF cables are insusceptible to external interference. Moreover, the optical signals transported via POF cables do not suffer from general electro-magnetic interference from external signals or power lines. Because of this, it is allowed to install POF cables along electrical wires, such as power cables to socket outlets.

According to an aspect of the invention a system as defined in claim <NUM> is proposed.

The hole in the cover plate is to be understood as a hole completely through the cover plate from one side to the other side. There may be one, two or more holes depending on the number of POF cables installed at the socket outlet.

To install the POF cable at the socket outlet, the POF cable is inserted into the hole from the back side of the cover plate, i.e. from the side facing the socket outlet. Advantageously, no special skills or equipment is needed for this.

When the optical device is inserted into the socket outlet there is a distance defining a space between the hole in the cover plate and the hole in the optical device while maintaining an optical circuit.

This allows the optical device not to be fully inserted into the socket outlet, irregularities on the surface of the cover plate or optical device causing the distance or small items, such as dirt or child safety inlays, in between the cover plate and optical device while maintaining the optical circuit.

In an embodiment the distance is less than <NUM>, ensuring that the optical circuit is maintained.

Instead of a plastic optical fiber cable another optical fiber cable may be used having similar characteristics with respect to ease of cutting and bendability.

The cover plate may be fixed to the socket outlet or may be separable from the socket outlet.

An electrical appliance is any appliance that can be plugged into the socket outlet, either via a power plug and power cable or directly.

The cover plate comprises pin holes for receiving pins of the electrical appliance. The hole for receiving the POF cable may be located in the same plane as the pin holes. This allows the POF cable to better fit the internals of the socket outlet and eases alignment of the hole with an optical device inserted into the socket outlet.

According to an aspect of the invention a socket outlet is proposed for providing electrical power to an electrical appliance. The socket outlet comprises the cover plate of any one of the above described embodiments.

Typically a socket outlet comprises two parts: an internal part and a cover plate. The internal part is typically installed in a wall or housing and the cover plate covers the internal part for safety (preventing touching electric parts) and aesthetic reasons. The socket outlet may be a wall socket, table mounted socket, part of a power strip, or used in any other configuration. The cover plate may be a fixed part of the socket outlet or separable from the socket outlet.

According to the invention, an optical device is proposed as part of the system defined in claim <NUM>.

Advantageously, to use optical signals transmitted via the POF cable, all one has to do is insert the optical device into the socket outlet. With the hole in the cover plate being aligned with the hole in the optical device, upon insertion of the optical device into the socket outlet an optical connection is established between the POF cable and the optical device allowing the optical device to receive and transmit optical signals.

Furthermore, the optical device can be powered by the socket outlet.

In an embodiment the optical device is one of: an Ethernet converter for converting an optical signal into an Ethernet signal and replicating the socket outlet; a WiFi converter for converting an optical signal into a WiFi signal and replicating the socket outlet; an Ethernet converter for converting an optical signal into an Ethernet signal without replicating the socket outlet; a WiFi converter for converting an optical signal into a WiFi signal without replicating the socket outlet; a motion detector for use in an alarm system; or a thermostat for use with a heating control system.

Thus, many appliances are possible. The invention is not limited to one of these embodiments; the optical device may be any other device insertable into the socket outlet and having a hole aligned with the hole in the cover plate of the socket outlet for creating an optical circuit.

According to an aspect of the invention an in-house or in-building optical network is proposed. The optical network comprises the system of any one of the above described embodiments. The optical network further comprises a plastic optical fiber cable installed along electrical wires connected to the socket outlet. The plastic optical fiber cable is inserted into the hole from the side of the cover plate facing the socket outlet such that the plastic optical fiber cable is frictionally fixed in the hole and not protruding the hole at the side facing away from the socket outlet.

One or more socket outlets may be part of the optical network. Thus an in-house or in-building optical network may be achieved without special skills or special equipment.

In an embodiment the plastic optical fiber cable and the electrical wires are at least partly installed in a single tubing. This allows the POF cable to be installed in the same tubing as the electric wires, thus there is no need for installing new tubing.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described in further detail. It should be appreciated, however, that these embodiments may not be construed as limiting the scope of protection for the present invention.

Aspects of the invention will be explained in greater detail by reference to exemplary embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings, in which:.

<FIG> shows a cover plate <NUM> of a socket outlet of an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The socket outlet may be a standard socket outlet for providing electrical power to electric appliances, with the exception of one or more holes <NUM>,<NUM> being provided for or drilled through the cover plate <NUM> of the socket outlet. In <FIG> the socket outlet has a CEE <NUM> standard compliant form factor. Depending on the country of use, the form factor of the socket outlet may differ. The cover plate <NUM> may be separable from the socket outlet. A POF cable may be pulled through a plastic tubing that provides the power cable to the socket outlet. From the back of the cover plate <NUM> one end of a POF cable may be inserted into the hole <NUM>,<NUM>, such that it does not protrude at the front side of the cover plate. The diameter of the holes <NUM>,<NUM> is preferably such that the POF cable becomes frictionally fixed in the hole when inserted. The other end of the POF cable typically ends at a hub near a router, switch or other optical network device, as will be explained with <FIG>.

The cover plate <NUM> may have one hole if a single POF cable is used for data communication in two directions. In a preferred embodiment, such as shown in <FIG>, the cover plate has two holes for installing two POF cables for data communication in two different directions, each POF cable handling one direction. More than two holes may be used for installing three or more POF cables, e.g. for allowing multiple data communication channels.

The location of each hole <NUM>,<NUM> is arbitrary, but is chosen such that the POF cable, when inserted in the hole <NUM>,<NUM> is not in the way of the internals of the socket outlet and the power cables in the socket outlet. Preferably the holes <NUM>,<NUM> and the pin holes <NUM> are located in the same plane. Furthermore, the holes <NUM>,<NUM> are to be aligned with a device using the optical signals when such device is inserted into the socket outlet. An example of such device is shown in <FIG>. To have the one or more holes <NUM>,<NUM> drilled at the right place in the cover plate <NUM> in case those holes are not provided, a mold may be used that fits the cover plate <NUM> of the socket outlet and having one or more holes at the correct location for drilling through the mold hole(s) and thereby creating the holes <NUM>,<NUM> in the cover plate <NUM>.

<FIG> shows an optical device <NUM> that may be inserted into the socket outlet for retrieving and transmitting optical signals at the end to the POF cable at the hole <NUM>,<NUM>. One or more holes <NUM>,<NUM> in the device <NUM> align with the holes <NUM>,<NUM> in the cover plate <NUM> when the device is inserted into the socket outlet, thereby enabling an optical circuit between the device <NUM> and the POF cable at the socket outlet. Advantageously, the device <NUM> may use the power from the socket outlet together with the optical signals. Hereto the device <NUM> has two pins <NUM> for insertion into the socket outlet as a power plug.

Conversion of the optical signal to an electrical signal or processing of the optical signal may be performed within the device <NUM>. Hereby the installation of the POF cable at the socket outlet becomes very easy, i.e. insertion of one end of a POF cable into the hole <NUM>,<NUM> is all there is to it. Furthermore, the device <NUM> is typically sold as a complete product, thus no knowledge of installing POF cables is needed when using the device <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrate how one end of a POF cable may be easily installed in a socket outlet. A POF cable <NUM> is shown having a protection layer <NUM> and a light conducting core <NUM>, as known in the art. A part of a cover plate <NUM> is shown with one hole <NUM>,<NUM>. In <FIG> the POF cable <NUM> is shown separated from the cover plate <NUM>. The POF cable <NUM> is installed by inserting the POF cable <NUM> into the hole <NUM>,<NUM> as shown in <FIG>. Preferably the POF cable <NUM> is inserted such that it does not protrude at the front of the cover plate <NUM>, i.e. the side of the cover plate <NUM> that is visible when mounted on the socket outlet. The POF cable <NUM> is to be inserted into the hole <NUM>,<NUM> at least partly, preferably such that it becomes frictionally fixed in the hole <NUM>,<NUM>.

<FIG> is an exemplary cross section of a cover plate <NUM> and a device <NUM>. The cover plate <NUM> has a hole <NUM>,<NUM> at the location indicated by the arrow. One end of a POF cable <NUM> is inserted into the hole <NUM>,<NUM>. An optical device <NUM> is plugged into the socket outlet, thus the pins <NUM> of the optical device <NUM> are inserted through the pin holes of the cover plate <NUM>.

Sufficiently aligned with the hole <NUM>,<NUM> and thus with the end of the POF cable <NUM> in the hole <NUM>,<NUM>, an optical guide <NUM>, such as a POF cable, inside the optical device <NUM> may end at a hole in the housing of the optical device <NUM>. Inside the optical device <NUM> the other end of the optical guide <NUM>, i.e. at the end indicated by the three dots, the optical guide <NUM> is typically connected to an electronic circuit (not shown) for converting optical signals into electrical signals or processing optical signals.

<FIG> shows an enlarged portion of <FIG> to illustrate that in between the open end of the POF cable <NUM> inside the hole <NUM>,<NUM> and the open end of the POF cable <NUM> in the optical device <NUM> a space <NUM> is present. The two ends of the POF cables <NUM>,<NUM> do not need to be connected or make contact for an optical circuit to be established. A maximum distance of <NUM> to <NUM> may be in between the two ends while maintaining the optical circuit. The acceptance of a space <NUM> allows the POF cable <NUM> to be not fully inserted into the hole <NUM>,<NUM>.

Furthermore, surface irregularities on the outer surface of the cover plate <NUM> or on the housing of the optical device <NUM> resulting in the optical device <NUM> not being fully insertable into the socket outlet are acceptable. Moreover, e.g. child protection inlays inserted into the cover plate preventing children from inserting items into the pin holes of the socket outlet may be used as the space <NUM> created by such inlay is typically below <NUM>.

Installing POF cables <NUM> along power cables to socket outlets enables an in-house or in-building optical network to be created. An example of an in-house optical network <NUM> connected to another network <NUM> is shown in <FIG>. The network <NUM> may be a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet. In this case a router <NUM> such as a cable modem router, ADSL modem router or fiber optic modem (FOM) connects the in-house optical network to the WAN. The network <NUM> may be a local area network (LAN), in which case a router <NUM> such as a LAN router connects the in- house optical network to the LAN. It is possible that the in- house optical network is not connected to another network <NUM>. The router <NUM> is connected to a hub <NUM> of the in-house optical network. The hub <NUM> may also contain the functionality of the router <NUM>, in which case no separate router is needed.

In the example of <FIG> pairs of POF cables <NUM> are used for two-way data communication. , one POF cable <NUM> is used for data signals in the direction of the socket outlet and another POF cable <NUM> is used for data signals in the direction of the hub <NUM>. At the socket outlet a first POF cable is inserted into a first hole <NUM> and a second POF cable is inserted into a second hole <NUM>. As the hub the POF cable pairs are connected to a hub socket <NUM>. Different POF cable pairs are thus connected to different hub sockets <NUM>.

A first optical device <NUM><NUM> may be used to convert the optical signals received via holes <NUM>,<NUM> and holes <NUM><NUM> and <NUM><NUM> into Ethernet signals when inserted into the socket outlet. The first optical device <NUM><NUM> may have an RJ45 socket for receiving an RJ45-based Ethernet cable <NUM><NUM> for connecting e.g. a computer device to the network. The first device <NUM><NUM> may receive power from the socket outlet via pins <NUM><NUM> when inserted into the socket outlet.

A second optical device <NUM><NUM> may be used to convert the optical signals received via holes <NUM>,<NUM> and holes <NUM><NUM> and <NUM><NUM> into WiFi signals when inserted into the socket outlet. The second optical device <NUM><NUM> may have an WiFi transceiver, indicated by <NUM><NUM>, for wirelessly connecting e.g. a computer device to the network. The second device <NUM><NUM> may receive power from the socket outlet via pins <NUM><NUM> when inserted into the socket outlet.

In a similar way, other optical device configurations may convert the optical data into standardized or non-standardized data protocols, such as Z-wave, Bluetooth, DECT, VoIP, GSM (effectively making the optical device a Pico-cell), and etcetera.

The socket outlet where the POF cable <NUM> is to be installed is typically away from the hub <NUM>. To enable the end- user to connect one end of the POF cable <NUM> to the correct hub socket <NUM> and the other end of the POF cable <NUM> into the correct hole <NUM>,<NUM>, the hub <NUM> may be configured to emit signals from the hub socket <NUM> currently being installed. Effectively this results in light being emitted from the hub socket <NUM>. Upon insertion of the POF cable <NUM> into the hub socket <NUM> the other end of the POF cable <NUM>, i.e. at the end of the cover plate <NUM>, starts emitting the light allowing the end-user to identify the correct POF cable to be inserted into one of the holes <NUM>,<NUM>.

The optical device <NUM> may be any device utilizing the optical signals and possibly being powered by the socket outlet. Non-limiting examples hereof are shown in <FIG>.

<FIG> shows a first optical device <NUM><NUM> for converting the optical signals into Ethernet signals. First optical device <NUM><NUM> has an RJ45 socket for receiving an RJ45-based Ethernet cable. Furthermore, the first optical device <NUM><NUM> replicates the socket outlet allowing further electrical appliances to be powered at the location of the socket outlet.

<FIG> shows a second optical device <NUM><NUM> for converting the optical signals into WiFi signals. Second optical device <NUM><NUM> has a WiFi transceiver for WiFi communication. Furthermore, the second optical device <NUM><NUM> replicates the socket outlet allowing further electrical appliances to be powered at the location of the socket outlet.

<FIG> shows a third optical device <NUM><NUM> for converting the optical signals into Ethernet signals. Third optical device <NUM><NUM> has two RJ45 sockets for receiving two RJ45-based Ethernet cables.

<FIG> shows a fourth optical device <NUM><NUM> for converting the optical signals into WiFi signals. Fourth optical device <NUM><NUM> has a WiFi transceiver for WiFi communication.

<FIG> shows a fifth optical device <NUM><NUM> with a motion detector for use in an alarm system. Motion detected by the detector may result in an optical signal being transmitted to a central processing device, e.g. connected to a hub <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A system, comprising:
- a socket outlet for providing electrical power to an electrical appliance, the socket outlet comprising a cover plate (<NUM>) having a hole (<NUM>, <NUM>) for receiving a plastic optical fiber cable (<NUM>) and pin holes (<NUM>) for receiving pins (<NUM>) of the electrical appliance, wherein the hole (<NUM>, <NUM>) has a diameter matching the diameter of the plastic optical fiber cable (<NUM>) such that the plastic optical fiber cable (<NUM>) is frictionally fixable in the hole (<NUM>, <NUM>) when inserted into the hole (<NUM>, <NUM>); and
- an optical device (<NUM>) for converting an optical signal into an electrical signal or processing the optical signal, the optical device (<NUM>) being insertable into the socket outlet for receiving power from the socket outlet, wherein the optical device (<NUM>) comprises a hole (<NUM>,<NUM>) for, when inserted into the socket outlet, retrieving and/or transmitting optical signals at the end to the plastic optical fiber cable (<NUM>) in the hole (<NUM>, <NUM>) of the cover plate (<NUM>), and wherein the hole (<NUM>,<NUM>) in the optical device (<NUM>) aligns with the hole (<NUM>, <NUM>) in the cover plate (<NUM>),
characterized by
a space (<NUM>) between the hole (<NUM>, <NUM>) in the cover plate and the hole (<NUM>, <NUM>) in the optical device, when the optical device (<NUM>) is inserted into the socket outlet, thereby enabling an optical circuit between the optical device (<NUM>) and the plastic optical fiber cable (<NUM>) in the socket outlet.