Patent ID: 7411405

Claim:
A method for monitoring a connectivity of a network cable, comprising: (a) transmitting an AC signal upon at least one conductor of the network cable; (b) receiving an AC signal upon at least one conductor of the network cable; (c) determining a connectivity of the network cable based upon the received AC signal; (d) sending a status update message to a network management system that includes the connectivity of the network cable; (e) increasing a frequency of the transmitted AC signal upon failing to receive an AC signal within a prescribed period of time; (f) determining at least one of a magnitude and a phase of the received AC signal; (g) sending a status update to at least one of a central controller and a remote network management system that includes information related to the determined at least one of magnitude and chase of the received AC signal (h) receiving from at least one of the central controller and the remote network management system a control update containing an updated control parameter in response to the status update; and (i) changing at least one of a message transmitted by the transmitted AC signal and a frequency of the transmitted AC signal in response to the received control parameter update.