Intelligent system for interconnecting data networking equipment

1. An intelligent system for interconnecting data networking equipment, comprising:

an asset management application attached to a network;

a plurality of terminals each configured for receiving a connector;

a plurality of terminal electronics each comprising an RFID transponder, each associated with a different one of said plurality of terminals and each comprising a unique ID;

a plurality of patch cables each comprising a pair of connectors, one of said connectors at each end of and interconnected by a guided transmission medium, an active plug RFID antenna associated with each of said pair connectors for emitting and receiving RF signals and network electronics positioned along each said patch cable for communicating with a server via said network, wherein each of said connectors are connectable with a given one of said terminals such that on connection said associated connector RFID antenna is brought into a communicating distance of said terminal RFID transponder associated with said given terminal;

wherein when, for each patch cable, a first connector of a first patch cable is connected to a first terminal and a second connector is connected to a second terminal, RF signals emitted by said connector RFID antennas are able to provide power to and communications with each of said associated terminal RFID transponders for retrieving said unique IDs of said first and second terminals and further wherein said retrieved pair of unique IDs is transmitted by said network electronics via said network to said asset management application.

2. The intelligent system of claim 1 , wherein each of said connectors comprises a network plug and each of said terminals comprises a receptacle and further wherein said connected comprises inserting one of said network plugs into a respective one of said receptacles.

3. The intelligent system of claim 1 , further comprising a cradle comprising a network interface for communicating with said asset management system via said network and cradle RFID electronics comprising a cradle RFID antenna, wherein said network electronics comprise a cable RFID transponder positioned along said patch cable between said connectors and such that, when said cable RFID transponder is brought into proximity with said cradle RFID antenna, RF signals emitted by said cradle RFID antenna are able to provide power to and communications with said cable RFID transponder for powering said cable RFID electronics and said connectors RFID antennas and retrieving said unique IDs of said first and second terminals.

4. The intelligent system of claim 3 , wherein said plurality of terminals are mounted in a patch panel, wherein said patch panel is installable into a standard rack and further wherein said cradle is mountable to said standard rack.

5. The intelligent system of claim 1 , wherein said guided transmission medium comprises one of a twisted pair of conductors, an optic fiber, a coaxial cable and a twinax cable.

6. The intelligent system of claim 1 , wherein a first of said terminals is in a first patch panel and a second of said terminals is in a second patch panel and further wherein a first connector of an interconnecting one of said plurality of patch cables is connected to said first terminal and a second connector of said interconnecting patch panel cable is connected to said second terminal.

7. The patch cable of claim 1 , wherein each of said network plugs further comprises an LED.

8. A method for validating a connection between a pair of terminals comprising:

connecting the terminals with a patch cable, said patch cable comprising a pair of connectors interconnected by a guided transmission medium and a connector RFID antenna associated with each of said pair of connectors, each of the terminals comprising an RFID transponder and a unique RFID wherein one of each of said terminals and each of said connectors comprise a collocated LED;

emitting an RF-signal from each of said RFID antennas;

receiving said unique RFIDs in response to said emitted RF-signals;

comparing said received unique RFIDs to a plurality of RFID pairs stored in a database; and

at least one of illuminating said LED to indicate an invalid connection when said received unique RFIDs fail to match one of said stored ID pairs and illuminating said LED to indicate a valid connection when said received unique RFIDs match one of said stored ID pairs.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said patch cable further comprises networking electronics for accessing a network, wherein said database comprises part of an asset management application attached to said network and further wherein said comparing comprises transmitting said received unique RFIDs to said asset management application via said network and receiving a conformation that said received unique RFIDs one of match one of said stored ID pairs or fail to match one of said stored ID pairs.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein each of said connectors comprises said collocated LED.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein each of said terminals further comprises RFID electronics comprising said RFID transponder and said collocated LED and further wherein said collocated LED is powered by said RFID electronics.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein at least one of said connectors comprises a button and further wherein said emitting an RF-signal comprises pushing said button to initiate said RF-signal emission.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein each of the terminals comprises a receptacle and each of said connectors comprises a network plug, and further wherein said connecting the terminals comprises inserting each of said network plugs.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein illuminating said LED to indicate an invalid connection comprises illuminating said LED such that it is red and illuminating said LED to indicate a valid connection comprises illuminating said LED such that it is green.

15. The method of claim 8 , wherein illuminating said LED to indicate an invalid connection comprises illuminating said LED such that it flashes and illuminating said LED to indicate a valid connection comprises illuminating said LED such that it illuminates steadily.

16. A patch cable for interconnecting a pair of terminals, each of the terminals comprising a terminal RFID transponder comprising a unique ID, and for use with a cradle comprising a cradle RFID antenna, the patch cable comprising:

a pair of connectors, one of said connectors at each end of and interconnected by a guided transmission medium;

a connector RFID antenna associated with each of said pair of connectors;

a cable RFID transponder positioned along said patch cable between said connectors for communicating with the cradle RFID antenna;

wherein when said cable RFID transponder is brought into proximity with the cradle RFID antenna, RF signals emitted by the cradle RFID antenna provide power to and communications with said cable RFID transponder for powering said connector RFID antennas and retrieving the unique IDs of the pair of terminals and communicating the unique IDs to the cradle.

17. The patch cable of claim 16 , wherein each of said connectors comprises a network plug and each of said terminals comprises a receptacle.

18. The patch cable of claim 16 , wherein each of said connectors further comprises an LED.

19. The patch cable of claim 16 , wherein each of said connectors further comprises a push button for triggering a communication connection between each of said connector RFID antenna and a respective one of the terminal RFID transponders.