Feasibility of Centralized Passive Optical Network Monitoring Using Passive Optical Network-Tuned Optical Time-Domain Reflectometry

Abstract

The increasing deployment of passive optical networks implies an equally increasing need for automatic monitoring systems. This article evaluates the feasibility of obtaining reliable information on fault position and loss by direct inspection of the optical time-domain reflectometry trace and via measurements of end-fiber reflectivity devices. Detailed calculations considering parameters often neglected, such as nonuniformity of splitters, fiber bending losses, as well as different Rayleigh backscattering factors and fiber attenuation coefficients, will be provided and experimentally verified. The limits and reliability of automated solutions for optical time-domain reflectometry passive optical network monitoring will be discussed.

Detection of Fiber Faults in Passive Optical Networks

“…In [2][3][4][5] the authors give a comprehensive overview of different monitoring solutions that can be grouped into two main approaches: decentralized (or distributed) and centralized. The decentralized one is divided into two flavors, one involving a technician being sent out to test the link usually with a handheld optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR), and the second one that requires additional monitoring functionality placed permanently in the outside plant or at the ONT (e.g., transceiver-embedded OTDR).…”