MERGING TECHNIQUE FOR OTDR TRACES CAPTURED BY USING DIFFERENT SETTINGS

Abstract

An Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) tests an optical fiber by generating, transmitting, and receiving light signals from an optical fiber. The OTDR generates light signals having different characteristics and stitches these light signals into an OTDR trace. Backscatter and properties such as dynamic range effect the quality of the OTDR trace.

Claims

1. An Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) comprising: a processor; and a memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform: generating a first light signal comprising a light pulse-width having a first duration; generating a second light signal comprising a light pulse-width having a second duration longer than the first duration; generating a third light signal comprising a light pulse-width having a third duration longer than the second duration; transmitting the first light signal, the second light signal and the third light signal to an optical fiber; receiving reflections of the first light signal, the second light signal and the third light signal from the optical fiber; converting the reflections into a first electrical signal, corresponding to the first light signal, a second electrical signal, corresponding to the second light signal, and a third electrical signal, corresponding to the third light signal; stitching a first OTDR trace corresponding to a portion of the first electrical signal to a second OTDR trace corresponding to a portion of the second electrical signal; and stitching the second OTDR trace to a third OTDR trace corresponding to a portion of the third electrical signal, wherein the first OTDR trace represents the light pulse-width having the first duration, the second OTDR trace represents the light pulse-width having the second duration, and the third OTDR trace represents the light pulse-width having the third duration.

2. The OTDR of claim 1, wherein a portion of the first OTDR trace represents a section of the first OTDR trace immediately following a dead-zone of the first OTDR trace, a portion of the second OTDR trace, stitched to the portion of the first OTDR trace, represents a section of the second OTDR trace immediately following a dead-zone of the second OTDR trace, and a portion of the third OTDR trace, stitched to the portion of the second OTDR trace, represents a section of the third OTDR trace immediately following a dead-zone of the third OTDR trace.

3. The OTDR of claim 2, wherein the dead-zone of the second OTDR trace and the dead-zone of the third OTDR trace each represent greater distances of the optical fiber than a distance of the optical fiber represented by the dead-zone of the first OTDR trace.

4. The OTDR of claim 1, wherein stitching the first OTDR trace to the second OTDR trace further comprises: mixing a first ratio of the first OTDR trace and second OTDR trace into points of an output OTDR trace; and wherein stitching the second OTDR trace to the third OTDR trace further comprises: mixing a second ratio of the second OTDR trace and the third OTDR trace into points of the output OTDR trace.

5. The OTDR of claim 4, wherein the first ratio and the second ratio satisfy the following:
L′(n)=a*L(n)+b*S′(n) L(n) denotes the second light signal for the first ratio; L(n) denotes the third light signal for the second ratio; “a” and “b” denote two parameters to be chosen such that a ratio of total noise of L′(n) to be combined minimizes a backscatter noise level; S′(n) is a moving average filter with a length P1-Ps, where P1 represents the second duration and Ps represents the first duration for the first ratio; and S′(n) is a moving average filter with a length P1-Ps, where P1 represents the third duration and Ps represents the second duration for the second ratio.

6. The OTDR of claim 1, wherein the stitching further comprises: applying a first gain to the first electrical signal; applying a second gain, different than the first gain, to the second electrical signal; applying a third gain, different than the first gain and second gain, to the third electrical signal; re-testing the first light signal on the optical fiber; re-testing the second light signal on the optical fiber; re-testing the third light signal on the optical fiber; averaging a result of re-testing the first light signal; averaging a result of re-testing the second light signal; averaging a result of re-testing the third light signal; multiplying the first OTDR trace by a product of the light pulse-width having the first duration and the light pulse width having the second duration, a number of averages and the second gain; multiplying the second OTDR trace by a product of the light pulse-width having the first duration and the light pulse width having the second duration, the number of averages and the first gain; and multiplying the third OTDR trace by a product of the light pulse-width having the second duration and the light pulse width having the third duration, the number of averages and one of the first or second gain.

7. A method of using an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) comprising: generating a first light signal comprising a light pulse-width having a first duration; generating a second light signal comprising a light pulse-width having a second duration longer than the first duration; generating a third light signal comprising a light pulse-width having a third duration longer than the second duration; transmitting the first light signal,the second light signal and the third light signal to an optical fiber; receiving reflections of the first light signal, the second light signal and the third light signal from the optical fiber; converting the reflections into a first electrical signal, corresponding to the first light signal, a second electrical signal, corresponding to the second light signal, and a third electrical signal, corresponding to the third light signal; stitching a first OTDR trace corresponding to a portion of the first electrical signal to a second OTDR trace corresponding to a portion of the second electrical signal; stitching the second OTDR trace to a third OTDR trace corresponding to a portion of the third electrical signal, wherein the first OTDR trace represents the light pulse-width having the first duration, the second OTDR trace represents the light pulse-width having the second duration, and the third OTDR trace represents the light pulse-width having the third duration.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a portion of the first OTDR trace represents a section of the first OTDR trace immediately following a dead-zone of the first OTDR trace, and a portion of the second OTDR trace, stitched to the portion of the first OTDR trace, represents a section of the second OTDR trace immediately following a dead-zone of the second OTDR trace; and a portion of the third OTDR trace, stitched to the portion of the second OTDR trace, represents a section of the third OTDR trace immediately following a dead-zone of the third OTDR trace.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the dead-zone of the second OTDR trace and the dead-zone of the third OTDR trace each represent greater distances of the optical fiber than a distance of the optical fiber represented by the dead-zone of the first OTDR trace.

10. The OTDR of claim 7, wherein stitching further comprises: mixing a first ratio of the first OTDR trace and the second OTDR trace into points of an output OTDR trace; and wherein stitching the second OTDR trace to the third OTDR trace further comprises: mixing a second ratio of the second OTDR trace and the third OTDR trace into points of the output OTDR trace.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first ratio and the second ratio satisfy the following:
L′(n)=a*L(n)+b*S′(n) L(n) denotes the second light signal for the first ratio; L(n) denotes the third light signal for the second ratio; “a” and “b” denote two parameters to be chosen such that a ratio of total noise of L′(n) to be combined minimizes a backscatter noise level; S′(n) is a moving average filter with a length P1-Ps, where P1 represents the second duration and Ps represents the first duration for the first ratio; and S′(n) is a moving average filter with a length P1-Ps, where P1 represents the third duration and Ps represents the second duration for the second ratio.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the stitching further comprises: applying a first gain to the first electrical signal; applying a second gain, different than the first gain, to the second electrical signal; applying a third gain, different than the first gain and the second gain, to the third electrical signal; re-testing the first light signal on the optical fiber; re-testing the second light signal on the optical fiber; re-testing the third light signal on the optical fiber; averaging results of re-testing the first light signal; averaging results of re-testing the second light signal; averaging results of re-testing the third light signal; multiplying the first OTDR trace by a product of the light pulse-width having the first duration and the light pulse width having the second duration, a number of averages and the second gain; multiplying the second OTDR trace by a product of the light pulse-width having the first duration and the light pulse width having the second duration, the number of averages and the first gain; and multiplying the third OTDR trace by a produce of the light pulse-width having the second duration and the light pulse width having the third duration, the number of averages and one of the first or second gain.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an OTDR system including input and output sections according to exemplary embodiments;

[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates a selector section according to exemplary embodiments;

[0012] FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrates OTDR traces according to exemplary embodiments;

[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart according to exemplary embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. However, known functions associated with the exemplary embodiments or detailed descriptions on the configuration and other matters which would unnecessarily obscure the present disclosure will be omitted.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a view of an OTDR system 1000 including a light generation section 101, a light I/O 102, an exit path 103, a return path 104, a detection section 105, a selector 106, a processor 107, a display 108 and a memory or storage 109.

[0016] The memory or storage 109 may store executable instructions that, when executed by the processor 107, cause the processor to perform algorithms according to exemplary embodiments.

[0017] According to exemplary embodiments, the processor 107 of the OTDR system 1000 algorithms control the light generation section 101 to generate light pulses having different durations, pulse-width, to be sent to a fiber through exit path 103 of the light I/O 102 and to be reflected from the fiber through the return path 104 of the light I/O 102. The processor 107 may also be configured to control the light generation section 101 to generate light pulses not only having different pulse-width respectively, but also having different intensity and repetitions of previously transmitted light signals according to algorithms.

[0018] The detection section 105 receives the light signals, having at least respectively different pulse-width, from the return path 104 of the light I/O 102 and converts the light signals into electrical signals, such as by a photodetector according to exemplary embodiments.

[0019] The optical signals, having at least different pulse-width, may be further processed with respective gains, such as a low-level gain to accommodate high-amplitude signal at a near end, close to the OTDR, and a high-level gain to accommodate a low-amplitude signal for a far end, away from the OTDR, along a fiber. As discussed further below, the optical signals may be stitched into a single OTDR trace in a horizontal direction of the trace, where the horizontal direction of the trace may represent distance from the OTDR.

[0020] Various methods for processing light signals according to exemplary embodiments include, increasing power of light pulse, repeating and averaging measurements, increasing duration of a light pulse and filtering captured traces, at least to reduce noise levels.

[0021] The selector 106 receives the electrical signals corresponding to the light signals, having at least respectively different pulse width, and may be controlled by the processor 107 to select various ones of the electrical signals and various portions of the electrical signals for being output to an OTDR trace by the display 108, as further discussed with respect to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0022] The processor 107 further stores such data in a memory 109 and processes the stored data to provide outputs to at least the display 108.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a view of a selector section 2000 including the selector 106 having an input 210 and an output 220. The input 210 and the output 220 may each represent more than one signal path according to exemplary embodiments. A selection unit 205 of the selector 106 operates in conjunction with the processor 107 or may autonomously operate to determine signals and portions of signals to be displayed by the display 108. The selector 106 further includes receivers 201-205 each configured to receive and buffer signals corresponding to at least respective pulse-width denoted by “L”.

[0024] FIG. 3A illustrates a graph 3000a including various OTDR traces 301a-303a each representing light signals having different pulse-width. For example, trace 301a may represent a light signal having a 5 ns pulse-width; trace 302a may represent a light signal having a 30 ns pulse-width, and trace 303a may represent a light signal having a 300 ns pulse-width.

[0025] To reduce scaling errors of the traces, backscatter levels of at least two traces obtained by using different pulse-width may be normalized by multiplying each trace by a product of pulse-width, number of averages and gain of another trace, according to exemplary embodiments. These coefficients could be divided by a maximum common denominator before the normalization to avoid processing overflow. Although at least two traces may be normalized as described above, more than two traces may also be normalized similarly by multiplying each trace by a product of pulse-width, number of averages and gain of another trace, according to exemplary embodiments.

[0026] The trace 302a ends its respective dead-zone and intersects the trace 301a at stitching point 310. The trace 303a ends its respective dead-zone and intersects the trace 302a at stitching point 311.

[0027] As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the trace 301a experiences the shortest dead-zone, and the trace 303a experiences the longest dead-zone. Further, the trace 301a experiences the greatest amount of noise after its respective dead-zone, and the trace 303a experiences the least amount of noise after its respective dead-zone. The shorter pulse-width trace 301a, although noisier than the longer pulse width trace 303a, exhibits optical characteristics at a shorter fiber distance than the longer pulse-width trace 303a at least because of the shorter dead-zone of the shorter pulse-width trace 301a; further, the characteristics at the shorter fiber distance exhibited by the shorter pulse-width trace 301a are not exhibited by the longer pulse-width trace 303a because of its respective dead-zone.

[0028] FIG. 3B illustrates a graph 3000b having trace portions 301b-303b stitched together from the traces 301a-303a of graph 3000a. For example, as trace 301a experiences a shortest dead-zone by representing at least a shortest pulse-width, the portion 301b of the trace 301a is selected as a portion to be displayed by the graph 3000b.

[0029] The trace 302b experiences less noise than the trace 301a; however, the trace 302b has a longer dead-zone. The dead-zone of the trace 302b ends at stitching point 310 and therefore, the trace 302b may be prioritized over the noisier trace 301a. A trace portion trace 302b of the trace 302a is stitched to the noisier trace portion 301b.

[0030] Although trace portion trace 301b is noisier than trace portion 302b, the trace portion 301b provides non-dead-zone data at a shorter distance than could be reliably represented the longer pulse represented by the trace 301b.

[0031] Further, the stitching point 311 represents a point where the dead-zone of the trace 303a has ended and is prioritized over the noisier trace 302a, and therefore, the trace portion 303b may be stitched at stitching point 311 thereby providing a less noisy signal at greater distances from the OTDR.

[0032] The stitching may be progressive rather than sudden. For example, areas around the stitching point 310 and stitching point 311 may be ratios of the signals about the respective points. The ratio may be different at each stitching point.

[0033] Further, the traces 301a-303a also have different gains applied thereto respectively in addition to representing different pulse-width signals and therefore may reduce scaling of an OTDR trace.

[0034] Meanwhile, if the data of the stitched OTDR trace comes from either the shorter pulse-width signal or the longer pulse-width signal, there may be one unused trace. According to exemplary embodiments, the longer pulse-width signal may be replaced by a combined trace from the two traces according to the following formula:

L′(n)=a*L(n)+b*S′(n)   (1)

[0035] L(n) denotes a longer pulse-width signal, S′(n) denotes a moving average filtered version of a shorter pulse-width signal S(n); “a” and “b” are two parameters to be chosen such that a ratio of total noise of L′ (n) to combined minimizes a backscatter noise level. It is noted that the pulse-width of S(n) is Ps, the shorter pulse-width, and in order to obtain S′(n) in view of the longer pulse-width P1 as L(n), the optimum moving average filter length to compute S′(n) from S(n) should be P1-Ps.

[0036] FIG. 4 illustrates flowchart 4000 of an algorithm performed according to exemplary embodiments. At S400 an OTDR receives signals representing at least different pulse-width.

[0037] At S401, the OTDR determines that the signals rise spontaneously and amplitude of a short pulse-width trace is greater than amplitude of a longer pulse-width trace.

[0038] At S402, the OTDR adds data corresponding to the short pulse-width signal even though this signal may be noisy. A filtered version of the short pulse-width signal may be added.

[0039] At S403, the OTDR compares the amplitude of the short pulse-width signal to that of a longer pulse-width signal.

[0040] At S404, the OTDR has determined that the amplitude of the short pulse-width signal is greater than that of the longer pulse-width signal, and therefore, the longer pulse-width signal remains in a dead-zone. Processing returns to S403.

[0041] This process may continue until the short pulse-width trace has a number of points having negative value exceeding a defined threshold such that the short pulse trace no longer has a sufficient dynamic range. From this point, the short pulse-width trace may only be selected in case of a large spontaneous rise of signal level, according to exemplary embodiments.

[0042] However, at S405, the OTDR has determined that the amplitude of the short pulse-width signal is less than or equal to that of the longer pulse-width signal, and therefore, the longer pulse-width signal is outside of its dead-zone and the OTDR stitches the longer-pulse-width signal or a filtered version of the longer pulse-width signal onto an OTDR trace. The above formula may represent multiple ratios for any of a first light signal and subsequent light signals having respectively different pulse-width.

[0043] Although exemplary embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the exemplary embodiments, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0044] OTDR 100

[0045] light generation section 101

[0046] light I/O 102

[0047] exit path 103

[0048] return path 104

[0049] detection section 105

[0050] selector 106

[0051] processor 107

[0052] display 108

[0053] memory 109

[0054] receivers 301-305

[0055] selection unit 205

[0056] input 210

[0057] output 220

[0058] traces 301a-303

[0059] traces 301b-303b

[0060] stitching point 310

[0061] stitching point 311

[0062] OTDR system 1000

[0063] selector section 2000

[0064] graph 3000a

[0065] graph 3000b

[0066] flowchart 4000