Northern Telecom Limited

Geoffrey N Bowling

John C Goodwin

A power and communication system for a building, and particularly a residential dwelling wherein there are provided a plurality of receptacles throughout the building, each connected by a cable to source, which may provide different voltages and either AC or DC and having a control interface for selectively switching the desired power to each cable individually. The control interface may also connect each cable to a selected signal transmission line, such as telephone, radio, TV, etc. The cable includes a pair of power conductors and a optical fiber which transmits to and receives from the control interface light signals informing the control interface what power or communication connection is required for a particular receptacle and possibly at the same time providing signal messages to each receptacle. The single optical cable can transmit an interrogating signal to the receptacle, which signal is transferred through a special plug and socket connection have a mating optical coupler to an appliance equipped with a microprocessor programmed for replying by way of light signals sent back to the interface through the same coupler and optical fiber. The control interface is thus informed as to what power and communication connections the appliance requires and to how the appliance should be subsequently monitored.

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Kanata, Canada

Geoffrey N Bowling