Fault-locating and supervisory technique for multistaged branched optical networks

A fault-locating and supervisory technique for large multistage branched optical fiber networks is proposed. The requirement of ultra-wide dynamic range of an optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) to diagnose the network can be tremendously relaxed. Not only can the failure of optical splitter itself be monitored, but also any faults of the fiber links whether before, after, or between optical splitters can be located. The feasibility of this technique was experimentally demonstrated in a 128-branched network using an erbium-doped fiber-amplifier-enhanced OTDR.<>