Power and fiber rack mount interface with power adaptation

Abstract

A network architecture and a rack-mounted enclosure for an office building allows end user devices far from a main equipment room to communicate with servers and outside provider services available within the equipment room. Network cabling includes at least one optical fiber to establish communication between the equipment room and the enclosure and electrical conductors to carry high voltage pulses, exceeding 300 Volts DC, from the equipment room to the rack-mounted enclosure. The rack-mounted enclosure includes power conversion equipment to convert the high voltage pulses into a lower voltage DC output and / or an AC power output. The rack -mounted enclosure may optionally include one or more slots to accept a data connection module to establish communication between the at least one optical fiber and a plurality of ports.

Description

POWER AND FIBER RACK MOUNT INTERFACE WITH POWER ADAPTATIONBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention generally relates to a network architecture for an office building to establish a consolidation point which communicates with, and receives power from, an equipment room. More particularly, the present invention relates to a network rack-mounted enclosure with terminals to terminate high voltage DC pulsing power, and to convert the high voltage pulsing power to a lower voltage signal. The network rack, or even the enclosure, may optionally hold networking interconnection equipment powered by the lower voltage signal.2. Description of the Related Art

[0002] A typical large office building, or complex of office buildings, has network ports, e.g., RJ45 wall jacks, located throughout the individual offices and meeting rooms on the many floors of the building or complex of buildings. Typically, a main equipment room is located on the first floor or in a basement. The main equipment room has an upgraded HVAC system and a backup power system, such as a battery bank and / or a fossil-fueled backup power generator connection. Outside communication cables from one or more service providers, e.g., Internet, telephone, dedicated alarm and security monitoring services, etc., enter the main equipment room.

[0003] Inside the main equipment room, network racks support various servers, switches, patch panels or other related communication devices. The communication devices are powered by the utility power and backed-up power source, should the utility power cease to operate. The communication devices are also connected to network cabling which passes through the walls, floors, ceilings and / or ductwork of the office building to the various wall jacks and ceiling mounted devices such as wireless access points distributed throughout the office building.

[0004] There are limits to the maximum length of the network cables connecting the main equipment room to the wall jacks throughout the building. For example, twistedpair cabling used to connect the main equipment room to an RJ-45 wall jack typically does not exceed a few hundred feet, depending upon the category rating of the cabling. This is because data errors become frequent and troublesome with longer cables, due to factors like attenuation, delay skew, and / or internal / alien crosstalk. Also, a power over ethemet (PoE) signal suffers voltage drop over longer runs of twisted pair cable and can no longer provide sufficient power to a device connected to an RJ-45 wall jack.

[0005] In larger office buildings or complexes, a common solution is to provide one or more subordinate equipment rooms, e.g., equipment closets located on the fourth and seventh floors of the building and / or in an adjacent building of an office building complex. One or more optical fibers link the main equipment room to the subordinate equipment rooms, such that the subordinate equipment rooms can communicate with the servers and outside provider connections available in the main equipment room. The servers, incoming data modems and backup power sources remain in the main equipment room. However, in each subordinate equipment room, a network rack will support one or more powered switches. The powered switches translate optical data into electrical data and vice versa to service multiple RJ45 ports within the powered switches and to optionally provide a power over ethemet (PoE) signal to the RJ45 ports. These RJ45 data ports will be connected, e.g., by twisted pair cabling passing through the ceilings, floors, walls and / or ducts to the RJ-45 wall jacks in the offices and meeting rooms served by the subordinate equipment room.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The Applicant has appreciated some drawbacks in the network cabling architecture described above. A subordinate equipment room needs to have a back-up power supply if communication is to remain available to the end user devices connected to the wall mounted RJ45 jacks or ceiling mounted devices served by the subordinate equipment room during a utility outage. This can be particularly important, if not required, when maintaining 911 emergency calling capabilities for VoIP phones, the ability to complete commerce transactions, security camera monitoring, fire and burglary alarm sensor support, etc.

[0007] Providing a backup power system to each subordinate equipment room is expensive. Also, a backup power system consumes additional power and generates heat, e.g., during a battery charging cycle. Therefore, additional HVAC duct work or equipment may be needed to cool the subordinate equipment room. Further, the added power requirements of the additional HVAC equipment, backup power supply equipment and powered switches may not be locally available to the subordinate equipment room, and might require a power upgrade, e.g., the installation of an electrical subpanel, to service the subordinate equipment room.

[0008] Another solution is to run an electrical cable from the main equipment room to the subordinate equipment room, and to directly supply the backed-up power source in the main equipment room to the subordinate equipment room. Unfortunately, this solution has two major drawbacks.

[0009] First, by default the subordinate equipment room is several hundred, if not a thousand feet or more, from the main equipment room, otherwise the main equipment room would be servicing the wall jacks being serviced by the subordinate equipment room. The voltage will drop significantly over smaller gauge electrical conductors, like the 12 AWG conductors typically used to power wall outlets. Therefore, large gauge conductors, which are very expense, e.g., 4 or 2 AWG or larger gauge conductors, will be required to avoid excessive voltage drop.

[0010] Second, building / fire codes will require such large gauge conductors to be housed within a conduit and may forbid the routing of the conductors through a ceiling space and / or ductwork, and may require closely spaced clamps to hold the conduit to building support structures. These added costs will most likely make the solution of routing power from the equipment room to the subordinate equipment room more expensive than establishing backup power systems and / or HVAC cooling systems in the subordination equipment rooms.

[0011] The Applicant has appreciated a new consolidation point-based network architecture, which should solve many of the cost drawbacks of establishing a subordinate equipment room, as found in the network cabling architecture described above. First, the fiber optic cable which connects the main equipment room to the subordinate equipment room can be replaced by a hybrid cable having both optical fibersand electrical current carrying wires, such as 12 gauge wires, although other gauges like 10 gauge, 14 gauge or 16 gauge wires may also be possible, such as in the range of 10 to 24 AWG. The voltage in the equipment room is stepped up to a value exceeding 300 volts DC, such as about 400 volts DC. At such high voltages, low amperages are needed to transfer sufficient power (volts times amps) from the source to the destination.

[0012] A particularly safe way to transfer high voltage power from a source to a destination is under development and will be known as “class 4” power or “digital voltage.” Class 4 power sends rapid pulses of the high voltage DC current, e.g., 400 volts. The destination receives the pulses, which may be reduced due to some voltage drop over the long transmission line, e.g. reduced to 380 volts. The destination has equipment to convert the received DC voltage pulses into a new supply voltage which is suitable for the equipment at the destination, e g., a 230 volt or 120 volt AC signal or a 5, 12, 24, 48 or 54 volt DC signal. If any irregularity occurs in the pulses between the source and destination, e.g., due to an intermittent short or open circuit condition, the source immediately, e.g. within a few milliseconds, stops sending the high voltage DC voltage pulses to avoid an unsafe condition.

[0013] Several background art references show systems for providing safe, high voltage pulses, e.g., exceeding 300 VDC. Such background art can be found in US Patent Nos. 8,781,637; 9,184,795; 9,419,436; 9,853,689; 9,893,521; 10,468,879; 10,541,543 and 10,714,930, and in US Published Application Nos. 2017 / 0229886; 2018 / 0313886; 2020 / 0295559 and 2021 / 0063447, which are owned by VoltServer of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and are herein incorporated by reference.

[0014] Using this system to supply backed-up power from the main equipment room to the subordinate equipment room negates the need for a backup power supply at the subordinate equipment room. All that is needed is powered switches. The Applicant has also invented a rack-mounted enclosure to serve as a consolidation point, which can receive the hybrid fiber and power cable.

[0015] The rack-mounted enclosure houses power conversion equipment, which is not user serviceable and is therefore not accessible to the technician. The power conversion equipment accepts the high voltage pulses and feeds power ports. The power ports may be located on one or both of a front face wall and a back face wall of the rack-mounted enclosure, and may include 230, 208 or 120 volt AC outlets and 54, 48, 24, 12 and / or 5 volts DC ports.

[0016] The rack-mounted enclosure may optionally include a slot on the front face wall to receive a data connection module, such as an optical fiber passthrough module. The data connection module may convert one or more MPO type ports to several LC type ports. One suitable data connection module would be the PROPEL sixteen fiber module, produced by CommScope, Inc. Then, a powered, network switch is located downstream of the data connection module to convert optical signals from the LC ports into electrical signals for RJ-45 ports. Alternatively, a powered, network switch, such as a powered, network switch to receive an MPO-type connector attached to the hybrid fiber and power cable may be received into the slot and establish network communications with a plurality of RJ-45 jacks in the powered, network switch. The rack-mounted enclosure may also include a second slot on its rear face wall to receive a same type of data connection module or alternatively a powered, network switch. The powered, network switch receives power from a 230 or 120 volt AC outlet, or 54, 48, 24, 12, or 5 VDC outlet, bidirectionally communicates with the optical fibers of the hybrid cable and bidirectionally communicates via the RJ-45 jacks to cabling connected to the RJ45 wall jacks and ceiling mounted devices served by the consolidation point. The rack-mounted enclosure may also have one or more thermostat-controlled fans to circulate air through its internal volume to cool power conversion equipment and the powered, network switches.

[0017] Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limits of the present invention, and wherein:

[0019] Figure 1 is a diagram showing a main equipment room, a rack-mounted communications consolidation enclosure and a hybrid cable connection, according to the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 is a front, top and right-side perspective view illustrating the rack-mounted enclosure, according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 is front, top and right-side perspective view showing an exploded view of the rack-mounted enclosure of Figure 2;

[0022] Figure 4 is a front view of the rack-mounted enclosure of Figure 2;

[0023] Figure 5 is a front view of a rack-mounted enclosure, according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 6 is a front, top and right-side perspective view illustrating the rack-mounted enclosure of Figure 5 attached to first and second network rack rails in a front-forward manner; and

[0025] Figure 7 is a rear, top and left-side perspective view illustrating the rackmounted enclosure of Figure 5 attached to the first and second network rack rails in a rear-forward manner.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0026] The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

[0027] Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggeratedfor clarity. Broken lines illustrate optional features or operations unless specified otherwise.

[0028] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and / or clarity.

[0029] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as "between X and Y" and "between about X and Y" should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as "between about X and Y" mean "between about X and about Y." As used herein, phrases such as "from about X to Y" mean "from about X to about Y."

[0030] It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "on", "attached" to, "connected" to, "coupled" with, "contacting", etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, "directly on", "directly attached" to, "directly connected" to, "directly coupled" with or "directly contacting" another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to astructure or feature that is disposed "adjacent" another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.

[0031] Spatially relative terms, such as “under”, “below”, “lower”, “over”, “upper”, “lateral”, “left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature’s relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly.

[0032] Figure 1 is a diagram of a consolidation point-based communication network architecture 101. A main equipment room 103 is placed on a first floor or basement of an office building 105. The main equipment room 103 includes at least one network rack 107. The network rack 107 supports communication devices 109, such as servers, switches, patch panels and / or other related devices. The communication devices 109 are powered by the utility power 111 and a backup power supply 113, such as a battery bank.

[0033] One or more outside communication cables 115 from one or more service providers enter the main equipment room 103 to provide service provider communication links, e.g., Internet, telephone, dedicated alarm services and security monitoring services. The outside communication cables 115 are connected to one or more of the communication devices 109, which act as a communications hub. A hybrid cable 117, having both optical fiber cable subunits 119 and insulated electrical conductors 121 for carrying electric power, enters the main equipment room 103. At a first end of the hybrid cable 117, the fiber cable subunits 119 have their optic fibers terminated to an optical connector 118, e.g., an MPO connector, which is connected to a port on a front face or rear face of the communication devices 109.

[0034] The electrical conductors 121 at the first end of the hybrid cable 117 are connected to a high voltage source 122, such as a class 4 power or “digital voltage”producing device, which produces DC voltage pulses in excess of 300 volts. The high voltage source 122 is typically powered by the utility power 111, e.g., line voltage of 120 or 230 volts AC. However, the backup power supply 113 is functional so that the DC voltage pulses in excess of 300 volts continue to be supplied to the electrical conductors 121 at the first end of said hybrid cable 117, even if the line voltage of 120 or 230 volts AC is interrupted.

[0035] The hybrid cable 117 may be routed through a conduit 123 to a remote location, where a second end of the hybrid cable 117 is terminated, e.g., within a networking closet 125. In some localities and / or situations, it may be possible to route the hybrid cable 117 to the remote location without the use of a conduit 123 if local building codes allow such an arrangement. In Figure 1, the horizontal dash-dot-dash lines 124 may represent several floors in the office building, such as about five floors or more, or about fifty feet or more. The vertical dash-dot-dash line 126 represents several room divider walls in the office building 105, such as about twenty divider walls or more, or about three hundred feet or more. In other words, in the depicted embodiment, the hybrid cable 117 has a length of about three hundred fifty feet or more.

[0036] Inside the networking closet 125, there may be a short network rack 127, having first and second rails 130 and 132. The first and second rails 130 and 132 are typically spaced nineteen inches apart, but could be spaced apart by other distances, such as twenty-one inches. The network rack 127 holds at least one rack-mounted enclosure 128 and one or more powered, network switches, which may function as a communications consolidation point. Each powered, network switch may include wired connections to establish communications with plural devices in the general vicinity, e.g., adjacent offices, of the networking closet 125. The general vicinity of the networking closet 125 may be considered as one to a few hundred feet from the networking closet 125. For example, twisted pair cables 129A and 129B may provide two-way data communication, and optionally power over ethemet (PoE), to wall jacks 131A and 13 IB. The wall jacks 131 A and 13 IB may establish communication with, and optionally provide power to, devices, like a telephone 133, a display 135, a laptop, a printer, a fax machine, etc. A power cable 129C may provide power upon a predetermined conditionto a light 137, such as an alarm light or stairway / exit illumination light in the case of an emergency.

[0037] A ceiling mounted wireless transceiver 138, such as a wireless internet router, may be connected by a cable 141 to the rack-mounted enclosure 128 within the networking closet 125. The wireless transceiver 138 may send and receive wireless connection signals 139 to establish communications with plural communication devices in the general area of the wireless transceiver 138, such as a thermostat 140, a security camera 142, a cell phone or a laptop computer. The wireless signal 139 may be Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G, 5G and / or any other known wireless signal type.

[0038] Now, with reference to Figures 2-7, a more detailed description of the rack-mounted enclosure 128, in accordance with the present invention will be made. Figure 2 is a front, top and right-side perspective view illustrating the rack -mounted enclosure 128, according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is front, top and right-side perspective view showing an exploded view of the rack-mounted enclosure 128 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a front view of the rack-mounted enclosure 128 of Figure 2.

[0039] The rack-mounted enclosure 128 includes a volume defined within a top wall 203, an opposite bottom wall 205, a front face wall 207, an opposite, rear face wall 209 (see Figure 7), a first sidewall 211 and an opposite, second sidewall 213. Power input terminals 215A and 215B are attached to at least one of the front face wall 207 and the rear face wall 209. The power input terminals 215A and 215B receive power from the insulated electrical conductors 121 of the hybrid cable 117, i.e., the class 4 power or “digital voltage.” In Figures 2-4, the power input terminals 215A and 215B are attached to the front face wall 207

[0040] Power conversion equipment 217 is mounted within the volume of the enclosure 210. The power conversion equipment 217 converts input pulses of direct current (DC) voltage exceeding 300 volts received from the power input terminals 215A and 215B into an output. The output includes one or more of a 120 volt alternating current (AC) signal, a 230 volt AC signal, and a constant DC signal with a voltage of less than 100 volts.

[0041] Power output terminals are attached to at least one of the front face wall 207 and the rear face wall 209 (Figure 7). The output of said power conversion equipment 217 is connected to the power output terminals. The power output terminals may supply a 120 volt AC signal, via two or more wall-type outlets 219, such as the four wall-type outlets 219 shown in Figures 2-4.

[0042] Figure 5 shows a front face wall 207 of an alternative rack-mounted enclosure 218A, in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. The alternative rack-mounted enclosure 218A is for use in countries which have a household power supply system based upon a higher voltage than 120 volts AC, e.g., mainly European countries. In Figure 5, the power output terminals supply a 230 volt AC signal, via two or more wall-type outlets 220, such as the four wall-type outlets 220 shown in Figure 5.

[0043] The power output terminals may also supply a constant DC signal with a voltage of less than 100 volts. For example, Figures 2-5 show four spring blade terminals 221, which serve as two separate 48 VDC power sources. Figures 2-5 also show two spring blade terminals 223, which serve as a 24 VDC source. The front face wall 207 may also include one or more indicator lights 225 and one or more circuit breaker test / reset switches 227, which are connected one or more circuit breakers within the volume of the rack-mounted enclosure 128, 128 A. The indicator lights 225 and circuit breaker test / reset switches 227 are associated with the operation status of the power conversion equipment 217.

[0044] Figures 2, 4 and 5 also show a first L-shaped bracket 229 attached to the first sidewall 211, and a second L-shaped bracket 231 attached to the second sidewall 213. More specifically, the first L-shaped bracket 229 is attached to a first set of holes 233 (shown in Figure 3) formed in the first sidewall 211, and the second L-shaped bracket 231 is attached to a second set of holes 235 (shown in Figure 3) formed in the second sidewall 213. However, it should be noted that the first and second L-shaped brackets 229 and 231 may be mounted to different sets of holes formed in the first and second sidewalls 211 and 213, respectively.

[0045] For example, Figure 6 shows the first and second L-shaped brackets 229 and 231 mounted to third and fourth sets of holes 237 in the first and second sidewalls211 and 213. The first and second L-shaped brackets 229 and 231 are also attached to the first and second network rack rails 130 and 132 of the network rack 127. Therefore, a technician can control how far out the front face wall 207 extends from the network rack 127 by selecting the sets of holes in the first and second sidewalls 211 and 213 to which the first and second L-shaped brackets 229 and 231 are attached.

[0046] As shown in Figure 7, the technician may also mount the rack-mounted enclosure 128 or 128A to the first and second network rack rails 130 and 132 in a rearforward manner, such that the rear face wall 209 is facing forward from the network rack 127. As also shown in Figure 7, the rear face wall 209 includes at least one power output terminal, such as a wall-type outlet 220 which outputs a 230 volt AC signal in the case of the rack-mounted enclosure 128A, or a wall-type outlet 219 which outputs a 120 volt AC signal in the case of the rack-mounted enclosure 128.

[0047] The rear face wall 209 further includes at least one fan, such as the illustrated first and second fans 239 and 241, for bringing in ambient air from outside of the rack-mounted enclosure 128, 128A to cool the volume within the rack-mounted enclosure 128, 128A. In a preferred embodiment, both of the first and second fans 239 and 241 draw ambient air into the volume of the rack-mounted enclosure 128, 128 A, which air is then exhausted via ventilation holes 243 formed in one or more of the top wall 203, bottom wall 205, first sidewall 211 and second sidewall 213.

[0048] Now, with particular reference to Figures 3 and 7, a data connection module 245, may be mounted into the rack-mountable enclosure 218, 218A. The data connection module 245 may take the form of a fiber breakout unit, like the CommScope PROPEL module, which has one or more multifiber ports on one side, e.g., a single MPO port 247, and one or more single fiber ports on another side, e.g., the sixteen LC ports 249 best seen in Figures 4 and 5. Alternately, the data connection module 245 may take the form of a powered, network switch, which converts optical signals received via an MPO port into electrical signals for use by RJ-45 networking ports, such as sixteen RJ-45 ports. In Figures 2-6, the data connection module 245 is inserted into a first access slot 251 formed within the front face wall 207, which is sized and shaped to accept the data connection module 245.

[0049] When the data connection module 245 is fully inserted in the first access slot 251, it will reside within a first data connection compartment 253 within the volume of the rack-mounted enclosure 128, 128 A. The powered, network switch 245 may snap lock into place within the first data connection compartment 253. A release tab 255 may be pulled to release the data connection module 245 from the first data connection compartment 253, so that the data connection module 245 may be pulled and removed from the first access slot 251.

[0050] A second access slot 257 is formed in the rear face wall 209. The second access slot 257 may be sized and shaped identically to the first access slot 251 to accept the data connection module 245. The second access slot 257 leads to a second data connection compartment 259 within the volume of the rack-mounted enclosure 128, 128A. The data connection module 245 may snap lock into place within the second data connection compartment 259. The release tab 255 may be pulled to release the data connection module 245 from the second data connection compartment 259, so that the data connection module 245 may be pulled and removed from the second access slot 257.

[0051] A channel 261 is formed within the rack-mounted enclosure 128, 128A to connect the first data connection compartment 253 to the second data connection compartment 259. Hence, the channel 261 connects the first and second access slots 251 and 257. An MPO connector attached to the fiber cable subunits 119 of the hybrid cable 117 may be fed into the second access slot 257, through the channel 261 and pass to the MPO port 247 on the rear of the data connection module 245. If a powered, network switch is used as the data connection module 245, a power cord may be plugged into the wall-type outlet 219 or 220 on the rear face wall 209 and fed into the second access slot 257 and pass to an input power port on the rear of the powered, network switch. It is also possible to provide a sufficient gap 263 beside of the release tab 255 so that the fiber connection to the MPO port 247 and / or the power connection on the rear of the powered, network switch may be access via the first access slot 251.

[0052] Should the data connection module 245 be mounted within the second data connection compartment 259 via the second access slot 257, the MPO connector attached to the fiber cable subunits 119 of the hybrid cable 117 may be fed into the first access slot 251, through the channel 261 and pass to the MPO port 247 on the rear of thedata connection module 245. Likewise, if the data connection module 245 is a powered, network switch, the power cord may be plugged into the wall-type outlet 219 or 220 on the front face wall 207 and fed into the first access slot 251 and pass to an input power port on the rear of the powered, network switch. It is also possible to provide a sufficient gap beside of the release tab 255 so that the fiber connection to the MPO port 247 and / or the power connection on the rear of the powered, network switch may be access via the second access slot 257.

[0053] The power input terminals 215A and 215B, attached to the front face wall 207, are divided into two sections, namely a first section being 215A and a second section being 215B. In a preferred embodiment, the first section 215A is supplied by a first set of electrical conductors 121 of the hybrid cable 117, and powered by at least a first circuit board of the high voltage source 122. The second section 215B is supplied by a second set of electrical conductors 121 of the hybrid cable 117, and powered by a second circuit board of the high voltage source 122.

[0054] The first section 215A of the power input terminals supplies digital voltage to a first independent section of the power conversion equipment 217. The second section 215B of the power input terminals supplies digital voltage to a second independent section of the power conversion equipment 217. In one embodiment, the first section of the power conversion equipment 217 supplies power to some of the power output terminals of the rack-mounted enclosure 218, 218A, while the second section supplies power to the remaining power output terminals.

[0055] In a preferred embodiment, the first section of the power conversion equipment 217 supplies power to all of the power output terminals of the rack-mounted enclosure 218, 218A, and the power conversion equipment 217 further includes failover hardware. All of the power output terminals are supplied by said first section of the power conversion equipment until there is a fault and the first section of the power conversion equipment can no longer supply power, at which point said failover hardware causes all of the power output terminals to be supplied by the second section of the power conversion equipment.

[0056] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways.

Claims

Claims:

1. A communications consolidation enclosure comprising: a volume defined within a top wall, an opposite bottom wall, a front face wall, an opposite, rear face wall, a first sidewall and an opposite, second sidewall; power input terminals attached to at least one of said front face wall and said rear face wall; power conversion equipment mounted within said volume, wherein said power conversion equipment converts input pulses of direct current (DC) voltage exceeding 300 volts received from said power input terminals into an output, said output including one or more of a 120 volt alternating current (AC) signal, a 230 volt AC signal, and a constant DC signal with a voltage of less than 100 volts; and power output terminals attached to at least one of said front face wall and said rear face wall, wherein said output of said power conversion equipment is connected to said power output terminals, wherein said power output terminals supply one or more of a 120 volt AC signal, a 230 volt AC signal, and a constant DC signal with a voltage of less than 100 volts.

2. The enclosure according to claim 1, further comprising: a first bracket attached to said first sidewall for attaching said first sidewall to a first network rack rail; and a second bracket attached to said second side wall for attaching said second sidewall to a second network rack rail.

3. The enclosure according to claim 1, wherein said front face wall includes two or more power output terminals which output a 120 volt AC signal.

4. The enclosure according to claim 1, wherein said front face wall includes two or more power output terminals which output a 230 volt AC signal.

5. The enclosure according to one of claims 3 or 4, wherein said front face wall includes at least one set of power output terminals which output a 48 volt DC signal and one set of power output terminals which output a 24 volt DC signal.

6. The enclosure according to claim 1, wherein said front face wall includes said power connection terminals.

7. The enclosure according to claim 6, wherein said front face wall further includes: at least one circuit breaker reset switch, which is connected to at least one circuit breaker within said volume and associated with said power conversion equipment.

8. The enclosure according to claim 7, wherein said front face wall further includes: at least one indicator light associated with an operation status of said power conversion equipment.

9. The enclosure according to claim 1, wherein said rear face wall includes at least one power output terminal, which outputs a 120 volt AC signal or a 230 volt AC signal.

10. The enclosure according to claim 9, wherein said rear face wall further includes at least one fan for bringing ambient air from outside said enclosure to cool said volume within said enclosure.

11. The enclosure according to claim 10, wherein said at least one fan includes first and second fans.

12. The enclosure according to claim 11, wherein both of said first and second fans draw ambient air into said volume of said enclosure which is then exhausted via ventilation holes formed in one or more of said top wall, bottom wall, first sidewall and second sidewall.

13. The enclosure according to claim 1, further comprising:a data connection compartment within said volume; and an access slot formed within said front face wall to access said data connection compartment, wherein said access slot is sized and shaped to accept a data connection module.

14. The enclosure according to claim 13, wherein said access slot is a first access slot, and further comprising: a second access slot formed in said rear face wall, wherein said second access slot is sized and shaped to accept a data connection module.

15. The enclosure according to claim 14, further comprising: a channel within said volume which connects said first access slot and said second access slot to accommodate a cable connection to a data connection module installed via either of said first or second access slots.

16. The enclosure according to claim 1, wherein said power conversion equipment is considered first power conversion equipment, and said power input terminals are considered first power input terminals for supplying only said first power conversion equipment, and further comprising: second power input terminals formed on at least one of said front face wall and said rear face wall; and second power conversion equipment mounted within said volume, wherein said second power conversion equipment converts input pulses of direct current (DC) voltage exceeding 300 volts received from said second power input terminals into an output, said output including one or more of a 120 volt alternating current (AC) signal, a 230 volt AC signal, and a constant DC signal with a voltage of less than 100 volts.

17. The enclosure according to claim 16, further comprising: failover hardware within said volume, wherein said power output terminals are supplied by said first power conversion equipment until there is a fault and said first power conversion equipment can no longer supply power, at which point said failoverhardware causes said power output terminals to be supplied by said second power conversion equipment.

18. A communication network comprising: an equipment room including a high voltage source producing a pulsing DC voltage in excess of 300 volts and a communications hub connected to one or more service provider communication links; a hybrid cable including two or more electrical conductors and one or more optical fibers commonly jacketed, with a first end of said hybrid cable having said two or more electrical conductors being electrically connected to said high voltage source and said one or more optical fibers being optically connected to said communications hub; and a communications consolidation point which is rack-mountable to a network rack, with a second end of said hybrid cable having said two or more electrical conductors being electrically connected to terminals of said communications consolidation point and said one or more optical fibers being optically connected to communication equipment.

19. The network of claim 18, wherein said communications consolidation point takes the form of single rack-mountable enclosure, with a second end of said hybrid cable having said two or more electrical conductors being electrically connected to terminals of said rack-mountable enclosure and said one or more optical fibers being optically connected to communication equipment in the form of a data connection module removably mounted within said rack -mountable enclosure.

20. The network of claim 18, wherein said high voltage source is typically powered by a line voltage of 120 or 208 or 240 volts AC, and wherein said equipment room includes a backup power supply so that said DC voltage pulses in excess of 300 volts continue to be supplied to said two or more electrical conductors at said first end of said hybrid cable, even if the line voltage of 120 or 208 or 230 volts AC is interrupted.