Telephony equipment migration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9877087-B2
Application number	US-201615063877-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 8, 2016
Priority date	Jun 22, 2012
Publication date	Jan 23, 2018
Grant date	Jan 23, 2018

Abstract

A telephony equipment migration arrangement is provided. The telephony equipment migration arrangement includes legacy telephony equipment located in one or more equipment bays, at least one transport cable, with one or more connectors, to provide external carrier connectivity, replacement telephony equipment located in one or more equipment bays remote from the legacy telephony equipment, and at least one remote coupling cable, with one or more connectors, connected to the replacement telephony equipment. The connector(s) of the remote coupling cable are mounted in a location having a predetermined locational relationship with the equipment bay in which the legacy telephony equipment is located, and the transport cable is communicatively coupled to the remote coupling cable.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A telephony equipment migration arrangement to facilitate migration from legacy telephony equipment to replacement telephony equipment, the arrangement comprising:
the legacy telephony equipment located in one or more equipment bays including at least a first equipment bay;
at least one transport cable having one or more connectors, the at least one transport cable providing external carrier connectivity;
the replacement telephony equipment located in one or more equipment bays remote from the legacy telephony equipment; and
at least one remote coupling cable connected to the replacement telephony equipment and comprising one or more connectors,
wherein the one or more connectors of the remote coupling cable are mounted in a location having a predetermined locational relationship with the first equipment bay in which the legacy telephony equipment is located,
wherein the at least one transport cable is communicatively coupled to the at least one remote coupling cable, and
wherein the at least one remote coupling cable extends from the replacement telephony equipment to the location having the predetermined locational relationship with the first equipment bay in which the legacy telephony equipment is located to enable the one or more connectors of the at least one remote coupling cable to be mounted in said location.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 , comprising at least one telephony equipment migration module via which the at least one transport cable and the at least one remote coupling cable are communicatively couplable, the at least one telephony equipment migration module comprising:
one or more transport cable connectors that are communicatively couplable to the one or more connectors of the at least one transport cable; and
one or more replacement telephony equipment connectors that are communicatively couplable to the one or more connectors of the at least one remote coupling cable.

3. The arrangement of claim 2 , wherein the at least one telephony equipment migration module is located in one or more equipment bays in the location having the predetermined locational relationship with the first equipment bay in which the legacy telephony equipment is located.

4. The arrangement of claim 2 , wherein the one or more replacement telephony equipment connectors are configured to transmit transport signals to and receive transport signals from the replacement telephony equipment and wherein the at least one telephony equipment migration module comprises:
one or more legacy telephony equipment connectors configured to transmit transport signals to and receive transport signals from the legacy telephony equipment;
one or more controllers operable to control switching between:
transport signals being transmitted to the legacy telephony equipment or transport signals being transmitted to the replacement telephony equipment; and
transport signals being received from the legacy telephony equipment or transport signals being received from the replacement telephony equipment.

5. The arrangement of claim 4 , wherein the one or more controllers are configured to default to transport signals being transmitted to the legacy telephony equipment and transport signals being received from the legacy telephony equipment.

6. The arrangement of claim 4 , wherein the at least one telephony equipment migration module comprises:
one or more relays that are controllable to switch between transport signals being transmitted to the legacy telephony equipment or transport signals being transmitted to the replacement telephony equipment; and
one or more relays that are controllable to switch between transport signals being received from the legacy telephony equipment or transport signals being received from the replacement telephony equipment.

7. The arrangement of claim 6 , wherein at least some of the one or more relays comprise latching relays.

8. The arrangement of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the one or more transport cable connectors of the at least one telephony equipment migration module is directly connectable to the one or more connectors of the at least one transport cable.

9. The arrangement of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the one or more transport cable connectors of the at least one telephony equipment migration module is not directly connectable to the one or more connectors of the at least one transport cable, the arrangement comprising:
one or more adaptors comprising:
one or more transport cable connectors that are directly connected to the one or more connectors of the at least one transport cable; and
one or more connectors that are directly connectable to the one or more transport cable connectors of the at least one telephony equipment migration module and are directly connectable to the one or more connectors of the at least one remote coupling cable,
whereby the at least one transport cable is indirectly connectable to the at least one telephony equipment migration module via the one or more adaptors.

10. The arrangement of claim 2 , wherein at least one of the one or more replacement telephony equipment connectors of the at least one telephony equipment migration module is directly connectable to the one or more connectors of the at least one remote coupling cable.

11. The arrangement of claim 2 , comprising one or more telephony equipment migration module mounts, the one or more telephony equipment migration module mounts being securable to a rack in which the first equipment bay is located and to the at least one telephony equipment migration module.

12. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the one or more connectors of the at least one remote coupling cable are directly connectable to the one or more connectors of the at least one transport cable.

13. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined locational relationship comprises the one or more connectors of the remote coupling cable being mounted in a location in the vicinity of the first equipment bay or being mounted in the location of the first equipment bay.

14. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transport cable is communicatively coupled to the legacy telephony equipment.

15. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the replacement telephony equipment comprises a new generation telephony equipment which supersedes the legacy telephony equipment.

16. The arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the legacy telephony equipment comprises one or more legacy telephony switches and wherein the replacement telephony equipment comprises one or more replacement telephony switches.

17. A method of migrating telephony equipment to facilitate migration from legacy telephony equipment to replacement telephony equipment, the arrangement, the method comprising:
providing at least one telephony equipment migration module;
connecting at least one transport cable to the at least one telephony equipment migration module, the at least one transport cable providing external carrier connectivity;
connecting at least one coupling cable to the at least one telephony equipment migration module and to the legacy telephony equipment;
connecting at least one remote coupling cable to the at least one telephony equipment migration module and to the replacement telephony equipment,
testing the replacement telephony equipment using at least the at least one telephony equipment migration module; and
activating the replacement telephony equipment,
wherein the one or more connectors of the remote coupling cable are mounted in a location having a predetermined locational rela

Assignees

• Metaswitch Networks Ltd

Inventors

• Tregenza Dancer Colin

Classifications

• H04M3/2254

  in networks · CPC title

• H04Q3/0062 Primary

  Provisions for network management · CPC title

• H04M5/08 Primary

  using connecting means other than cords · CPC title

• H04L12/6418

  Hybrid transport · CPC title

• H04Q3/0083

  Network planning or design; Modelling of planned or existing networks · CPC title