A practical in-service supervisory technique using reflected-pulse detection based on OTDR for optically amplified passive branched CATV networks

Abstract

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an inservice supervisory tecchnique based on reflected-pulse detection, which can simultaneously monitor the performance of all active network devices (such as optical transmitter, optical amplifiers, and optical receivers) and locate the fiber fault in optically amplified passive branched cable TV networks by using a conventional optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) combined with 1 x 2 optical switches. The monitoring parameters such as required dynamic range of OTDR, response time, and the maximum number of element monitoring transponder are discussed.