Cabinets can be used in OpenComms Designer to house ISP equipment—i.e. Patch Panels or OSP splitters. This document will explain how to select a patch panel from the ISP specfile, which can then be placed inside a Fiber Cabinet.

 Creating a Cabinet

To create a cabinet in OpenComms Designer click on File>OpenComms Settings>OSP Common>Cabinets:

 

 This will bring up the Cabinet Attribute dialog, where a model name, Manufacturer, Cost, and the Cell desired can be entered. Click Add to add the new cabinet to the spec file:

 

 Create Ports for Patch Panels and OSP Splitters

 To create and define the ports for the ISP equipment, select File>OpenComms Settings>ISP>Ports:

 NOTE: See the OpenComms Designer Help document and refer to the ISP.Setup>Equipment Specifications>Ports section for complete details on creating or editing ports and slots.

 

This will open the Ports Editor dialog, where different models of Ports can be defined, along with their type definition, (i.e. coax, copper, fiber, or power), ID, dimensions, shape, color, etc. can be defined:

 

 Key in the port ID and select Add to save a new port model to the spec file. After the port is created, the other criteria can be entered to define the port. Click update to add the finished port definition to the spec file.

 Adding ISP equipment to the Cabinet

 To add a patch panel to the cabinet, select File>OpenComms Settings>ISP>Equipment:

 

This will open the Equipment Editor dialog—for the Class: button, select RF Video and for the sub-class select Patch Panel to display any existing active patch panel models :

 

 NOTE: To create a new patch panel, see the OpenComms Designer Help file and refer to the Bentley OpenComms Inside Plant (ISP)>Setup>Equpment Specifications>Equipment section for complete details on creating new patch panel equipment.

 In OpenComms Designer select Connections X-Conn from the Modify/Delete section and then select the existing cabinet:

 

 This will open the Quick Cross Connect dialog:

 

 Clicking the Add button will display the Select Equipment dialog, and the dropdown will display all the defined patch panels in the spec file:

 

 Highlight one of the models and click OK to insert that patch panel into the cabinet:

 

 Multiple pieces of equipment can be placed in the cabinets, and ports may be connected to fibers in connected sheaths or other pieces of equipment in the cabinet. The port connections are displayed as:

          Grey -        not connected.

          Yellow -     Port selected.

          Blue -        Port connected but not selected for displayed devices.

          Red -         Port indicates connection to a port on another device or side (Front to Back).

          Magenta - Port indicates that it has been Allocated but not selected.

          Green -     Port selected indicates that it has been Allocated.

 When ports are double clicked, the display updates to show both devices and highlights the connection

 Allocation of ports can only be done if there is a Fiber Status set for Allocation by selecting the check box.

  To connect and map fibers

 1. Select the input port for a fiber and connect them.

 2. Map the port to another port in the device or through to the back.

 3. Select the mapped port and the second fiber to complete the connection for a return path down the same fiber.

 Multiple Equipment in a Cabinet

 You can add any combination of Patch Panels and OSP Splitter to the cabinet. The equipment can then be connected across the equipment to any similar port type.