Patent ID: 8428405

Claim:
A fiber optic interconnect system augmented by radio frequency (RF) transmission means including circuitry to identify and trace cable paths, the system comprising: a multiplicity of branching optical signal transmission paths; extending from the RF transmission means to remote sites, wherein each path includes a cable jacket having a concave external channel on an external surface thereof and one or more interior optical fibers therein, and at least one electrically independent electrical conductor principally residing within the concave channel and sized along its length to present a conductive externally accessible surface for electrical contact; a plurality of mid-cable electrical clip devices, each having two spaced apart ends joined by an electrical conductor, wherein a first end of each of the mid-cable electrical clip devices temporarily and removably clips along any midspan length of one of the cable jackets to provide electrical contact to the externally accessible surface of the corresponding electrical conductor, without degrading the corresponding optical signal transmission path and without damaging the corresponding cable jacket; an electronic RF oscillator generating a harmonic, time-varying voltage wave, said oscillator being electrically coupled to the second end of each of the mid-cable electrical clip devices at the RF transmission means; and a wireless electronic signal probe, responsive to harmonic voltage wave signals in the clip devices when spaced less than 2 meters from an optical signal transmission path at any location along the transmission paths, said signal probe being configured to emit an indicator signal whose strength is responsive to the proximity to an optical signal transmission path.