Performance improvement of a combined OTDR for distributed strain and loss measurement by randomizing the reference light polarization state

Author

Kurashima, T. ; Tateda, M. ; Horiguchi, T. ; Koyamada, Y.

Author_Institution

NTT Access Network Syst. Labs., Ibaraki, Japan

Volume

9

Issue

3

fYear

1997

fDate

3/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

360

Lastpage

362

Abstract

We successfully improve the ability of an OTDR, which combines both BOTDR and COTDR functions, to measure strain and optical loss distribution along optical fibers, by randomizing the polarization state of the reference lightwave for optical coherent detection. The OTDR is upgraded to provide a high-spatial resolution of up to 1 m in the BOTDR mode and a fading noise as low as 0.05 dB in the COTDR mode.

Keywords

optical fibre losses; optical fibre polarisation; optical fibre testing; optical loss measurement; optical resolving power; strain measurement; BOTDR; COTDR; COTDR mode; combined OTDR; distributed strain measurement; fading noise; high-spatial resolution; loss measurement; optical coherent detection; optical fiber measurement; optical loss distribution; optical time division reflectometry; performance improvement; polarization state; reference light polarization state; reference lightwave; Loss measurement; Optical detectors; Optical fiber losses; Optical fiber polarization; Optical fibers; Optical losses; Optical noise; Optical polarization; Performance loss; Strain measurement;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.556073

Filename

556073