Distance scale calibration of optical time-domain reflectometers with the recirculating delay line method

Author

Zanobini, Andrea ; Iuculano, Gaetano ; Ponterio, Aldo

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. & Telecommun., Univ. of Florence, Italy

Volume

54

Issue

6

fYear

2005

Firstpage

2554

Lastpage

2556

Abstract

A basic optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) configuration is shown. An optical pulse typically 10-10000 ns long is launched into a test fiber via a directional coupler. The backscatter radiation from the fiber is detected and processed and the backscatter signature displayed. Since the backscatter power is directly related to the fiber loss and its arrival time back at the OTDR to the distance traveled, it is for these two parameters that the OTDR needs primarily to be calibrated. Several methods for carrying this out are described in the IEC 61746 document. In this paper, we present measurements made with the recirculating delay line, which is a passive method among the distance scale calibrating ones.

Keywords

calibration; distance measurement; measurement uncertainty; optical delay lines; optical fibres; optical time-domain reflectometry; distance scale calibration; optical fiber measurement application; optical time-domain reflectometer; optical time-domain reflectometry; passive method; recirculating delay line method; time-of-flight technique; uncertainty evaluation; Backscatter; Calibration; Delay lines; Directional couplers; Optical fiber couplers; Optical fiber testing; Optical pulses; Radiation detectors; Reflectometry; Time domain analysis; Distance scale calibration; optical fiber measurement applications; optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR); recirculating delay line; time-of-flight techniques; uncertainty evaluation;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIM.2005.858106

Filename

1542565