System and method for cable monitoring

Abstract

Embodiments include methods, apparatus, and systems for cable monitoring. One embodiment includes a method that receives data from an optical transceiver coupled to a cable and a RFID (radio frequency identification) device mounted to the cable. The data from the optical transceiver and RFID device is used to determine an operational status of the cable.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving, at a computer host, cable data for a plurality of fiber optic cables in a data center, wherein the cable data comprises optical data; and   based on the cable data, determining, by the computer host, a status for each fiber optic cable of the plurality of fiber optic cables in the data center.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, for a first fiber optic cable of the plurality of fiber optic cables, reading a first unique identifier from a first radio frequency identification (RFID) tag attached to a first end of the first fiber optic cable, wherein the cable data received at the computer host comprises the first unique identifier. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the first end of the first fiber optic cable is coupled to a first optical transceiver, and wherein the first optical transceiver includes an embedded RFID reader to read the first RFID tag attached to the first end of the first fiber optic cable. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising collecting, by the first optical transceiver, first transceiver data including at least one of laser information and optical power information, wherein the optical data received at the computer host comprises the first transceiver data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising reading a second unique identifier from a second RFID tag attached to a second end of the first fiber optic cable, wherein the cable data received at the computer host also comprises the second unique identifier. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising collecting second transceiver data by a second optical transceiver coupled to the second end of the first fiber optic cable, wherein the optical data received at the computer host also comprises the second transceiver data. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining, for each fiber optic cable of the plurality of fiber optic cables, an accuracy level associated with the status of the fiber optic cable. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein determining the accuracy level associated with the status of the fiber optic cable comprises determining a number of optical data elements received at the computer host. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein determining the accuracy level associated with the status of the fiber optic cable comprises applying stochastic inference to the cable data to determine an estimate of an operational condition of the fiber optic cable. 
     
     
         10 . A computer system, comprising:
 a processor; and   a machine-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions executable by the processor to:
 receive optical data for a plurality of fiber optic cables installed in a data center, wherein the optical data includes at least one of laser information and optical power information; and 
 determine, based on the optical data, a status for each fiber optic cable of the plurality of fiber optic cables installed in the data center. 
   
     
     
         11 . The computer system of  claim 10 , the instructions further executable to, for each fiber optic cable of the plurality of fiber optic cables, determine an accuracy level associated with the status of the fiber optic cable. 
     
     
         12 . The computer system of  claim 11 , wherein the accuracy level associated with the status of the fiber optic cable is based on whether the optical data for the fiber optic cable includes data from one optical transceiver, two optical transceivers, or no optical transceivers. 
     
     
         13 . The computer system of  claim 12 , the instructions further executable to receive radio frequency identification (RFID) data for the plurality of fiber optic cables, wherein the status for each fiber optic cable is also based on the RFID data for the plurality of fiber optic cables. 
     
     
         14 . The computer system of  claim 11 , the instructions further executable to determine the accuracy level associated with the status of the fiber optic cable by using stochastic inference to determine an estimate of an operational condition of the fiber optic cable. 
     
     
         15 . An article comprising a machine-readable storage medium storing instructions that upon execution cause a processor to:
 receive optical data for a plurality of fiber optic cables located in a data center, wherein the optical data includes at least one of laser information and optical power information; and   determine, based on the optical data, a status for each fiber optic cable of the plurality of fiber optic cables included in the data center.   
     
     
         16 . The article of  claim 15 , the instructions further executable to receive radio frequency identification (RFID) data for the plurality of fiber optic cables, wherein the status for each fiber optic cable is also based on the RFID data for the plurality of fiber optic cables. 
     
     
         17 . The article of  claim 15 , the instructions further executable to, for each fiber optic cable of the plurality of fiber optic cables, determine an accuracy level associated with the status of the fiber optic cable. 
     
     
         18 . The article of  claim 15 , wherein the accuracy level associated with the status of the fiber optic cable is based at least in part on whether the optical data for the fiber optic cable includes data received from one optical transceiver, two optical transceivers, or no optical transceivers. 
     
     
         19 . The article of  claim 18 , wherein a highest accuracy level corresponds to data received from two optical transceivers, and wherein a lowest accuracy level corresponds to data received from no optical transceivers. 
     
     
         20 . The article of  claim 11 , the instructions further executable to determine the accuracy level associated with the status of the fiber optic cable by using stochastic inference to determine an estimate of an operational condition of the fiber optic cable.