Exchangeable powered infrastructure module
An apparatus includes a backplane and a removable blade. The backplane is mounted to a housing and is operably coupled to the Ethernet. The removable blade is operably coupled to the backplane and is selectable from and interchangeable with: (a) a removable blade configured to receive an Ethernet input and product an Ethernet output; and (b) a removable blade configured to receive a non-Ethernet input and produce an Ethernet output representative of the non-Ethernet input.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a backplane mounted to a housing within a defined single-user multi-purpose area, the area having both Ethernet infrastructure and non-Ethernet infrastructure, the backplane operably coupled to an Ethernet local area network (LAN) with the LAN supplying power to the backplane by Power over Ethernet (POE);
a first removable blade operably coupled to the backplane, the first removable configured to receive an Ethernet input from the LAN or from an Ethernet infrastructure device, the first removable blade additionally configured to produce an Ethernet output to the LAN or to the Ethernet infrastructure device; and
a second removable blade operably coupled to the backplane, the second removable blade configured to receive a non-Ethernet input from a non-Ethernet infrastructure device and produce an Ethernet output representative of the non-Ethernet input to the LAN, the second removable blade additionally configured to receive an Ethernet input from the LAN and produce a non-Ethernet output representative of the Ethernet input to the non-Ethernet infrastructure device.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the removable blade is additionally selectable from and interchangeable with: (c) a removable blade configured to deliver power over the Ethernet.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the removable blade configured to receive an Ethernet input and produce an Ethernet output performs the function of a hub, a repeater, a switch, a power over Ethernet injector, or a gateway to the Internet of Things.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the non-Ethernet input comprises: a fiber optic input, a non-Ethernet audio input, a non-Ethernet video input, a wireless input or a digital electricity input.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the removable blade includes a controller to control devices external to the apparatus.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the removable blade comprises a plurality of removable blades.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus supports only a single-user multi-purpose area network.
8. A system comprising:
a plurality of apparatuses operably coupled to an Ethernet local area network (LAN) that includes Power over Ethernet (POE) functionality, wherein each of the plurality of apparatuses supports a single-user multi-purpose area network having both Ethernet and non-Ethernet infrastructure, and wherein each of the plurality of apparatuses comprises:
a backplane mounted to a housing, the backplane operably coupled to the Ethernet LAN, wherein power is supplied to the backplane by the LAN utilizing POE; and
a plurality of removable blades operably coupled to the backplane, the plurality of removable blades including:
a first removable blade operably coupled to the backplane, the first removable configured to receive an Ethernet input from the LAN or from an Ethernet infrastructure device, the first removable blade additionally configured to produce an Ethernet output to the LAN or to the Ethernet infrastructure device; and
a second removable blade operably coupled to the backplane, the second removable blade configured to receive a non-Ethernet input from a non-Ethernet infrastructure device and produce an Ethernet output representative of the non-Ethernet input to the LAN, the second removable blade additionally configured to receive an Ethernet input from the LAN and produce a non-Ethernet output representative of the Ethernet input to the non-Ethernet infrastructure device.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of removable blades is additionally selectable from and interchangeable with: (c) a removable blade configured to deliver power over the Ethernet.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the removable blade configured to receive an Ethernet input and produce an Ethernet output performs the function of a hub, a repeater, a switch, a power over Ethernet injector, or a gateway to the Internet of Things.
11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the non-Ethernet input comprises: a fiber optic input, a non-Ethernet audio input, a non-Ethernet video input, a wireless input or a digital electricity input.
12. The system of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the plurality of removable blades includes a controller to control devices external to the respective apparatus.
13. The system of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of apparatuses comprises a ceiling-mountable apparatus, a wall-mountable apparatus, and/or a floor-mountable apparatus.
14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of apparatuses are distributed in a zone layout.
15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of removable blades are hot swappable.
16. A method for establishing a multi-purpose area network consolidation point comprising:
installing a backplane, mounted in a housing, within a defined, single-user multi-purpose area, the area having both Ethernet infrastructure and non-Ethernet infrastructure;
operably coupling the backplane to an Ethernet local area network (LAN) with the LAN supplying power to the backplane by Power over Ethernet (POE);
operably coupling a first removable blade to the backplane, the first removable blade configured to receive an Ethernet input from the LAN or from an Ethernet infrastructure device, the first removable blade additionally configured to produce an Ethernet output to the LAN or the Ethernet infrastructure device;
operably coupling a second removable blade to the backplane, the second removable blade configured to receive a non-Ethernet input from a non-Ethernet infrastructure device and produce an Ethernet output representative of the non-Ethernet input to the LAN, the second removable blade additionally configured to receive an Ethernet input from the LAN and produce a non-Ethernet output representative of the Ethernet input to the non-Ethernet infrastructure device.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first removable blade performs the function of a hub, a repeater, a switch, a power over Ethernet injector, or a gateway to the Internet of Things.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the non-Ethernet input comprises: a fiber optic input, a non-Ethernet audio input, a non-Ethernet video input, a wireless input or a digital electricity input.
19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the housing comprises a ceiling-mounted housing, a wall-mounted housing, or a floor-mounted housing.
20. The method of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the first and second removable blades includes a controller to control a device coupled to the blade.