Optical Fiber Network Fault Test Equipment Analysis

Optical Fiber Network Fault Test Equipment Analysis

In recent years, as people have higher and higher requirements on the rate of broadband, because the performance of optical fiber is better than that of copper cable, it has been widely used in the backbone construction of broadband projects. At the same time, due to the increasing coverage of optical fibers, fiber failure detection is becoming more and more important. What methods can be used to eliminate faults of Optical Fiber Components? First of all, to eliminate the failure of optical fiber parts, we must pass the test. What are the testing and measurement devices of optical fiber networks? Currently, more than six types of network cable manufacturers, Wei Kang, know that there are currently three main types of instruments. They are: Optical Loss Testing Equipment (also known as A multimeter or power meter), fault positioner (fault tracker), and Optical Fiber identification devices.

Optical Loss Testing Equipment (composed of A multimeter and a power meter)

Optical Power Meter: used to measure absolute optical power or relative loss of optical power through a fiber segment. Multimeter: used to measure optical power loss of Optical Fiber Links.

To measure the loss of a optical cable link, a calibrated stable light must be transmitted at one end and the output power should be read at the receiving end. The two devices constitute an optical loss tester. When the light source and power meter are combined into a set of instruments, they are often referred to as the optical loss Tester (also known as A multimeter ). When we measure the loss of a link, one person needs to operate and test the light source at the sending end, and the other person needs to use the power meter at the receiving end to measure the loss value in one direction.

In general, we need to measure the loss in two directions (because there is a directed connection loss or it is caused by the asymmetry of the optical fiber transmission loss ). In this case, technicians must exchange equipment and perform measurement in another direction. But what should they do when they are separated by dozens of floors or thousands of meters? Obviously, if both of them have a light source and an optical power meter, they can measure both sides at the same time, the current advanced optical cable testing kit for certification testing can achieve two-way dual-wavelength testing, such as Fluke's CertiFiber and DSP Cable Testing series of FTA Optical Cable Testing packages.

Optical fiber Fault Locator (fault tracker)

Most Fault Locators are hand-held instruments and are suitable for Multimode and single-mode optical fiber systems. The OTDR Technology is used to locate Optical Fiber fault points. The test distance is mostly within 20 kilometers. The distance from the instrument to the fault point is displayed in numbers. Applicable to: Wide Area Network (WAN), 20 km communication system, fiber to the roadside (FTTC), single-mode and multi-mode optical fiber cable installation and maintenance, and military systems. In single-mode and multi-mode optical cable systems, the Fault locator is an excellent tool to locate faulty connection headers and bad connection points. The Fault locator is easy to operate and can detect up to 7 Multiple events with only one key.

This device is based on the visible light (red light) Source of the laser diode. when the light is injected into the optical fiber, if similar faults such as fiber breakage, connector failure, excessive bending, and poor welding quality occur, the optical fiber fault can be visually located by transmitting the light to the optical fiber. The visible fault positioner is emitted in continuous wave (CW) or pulse mode. The typical frequency is 1Hz or 2Hz, but it can also work in the kHz range. Generally, the output power is 0 dBm (1 Mw) or less, the working distance is 2 to 5 km, and all universal connectors are supported.

Optical Fiber identification device

It is a very sensitive photoelectric detector. When you bend an optical fiber, some light emits from the core. The light will be detected by the optical fiber identification device. Based on the light, the technicians can identify a single fiber in a multi-core optical fiber cable or an interboard from other optical fiber cables. The Optical Fiber identification device can detect the state and direction of light without affecting the transmission. To make this work easier, the test signal is usually modulated into 270Hz, Hz or Hz at the sender end and injected into a specific optical fiber. Most Optical Fiber identifiers are used for single-mode optical fiber cables with a working wavelength of 1310nm or 1550nm. The best optical fiber identifiers are the ability to use macro bend technology to identify optical fiber cables online and to test the transmission direction and power of optical fiber cables.

To sum up, a large number of projects that use optical fiber equipment are generally a large-scale project. It is necessary to complete the measurement of optical loss or to eliminate the fault of Optical Fiber Equipment, A calibrated light source and a standard optical power meter are indispensable.