Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) Note

Courtesy from Significant Technologies Sdn Bhd
OPTICAL TIME DOMAIN

REFELECTOMETER (OTDR):
PRINCIPLES
Single ended test that...
...characterizes fiber from end-to-end
...locate and measure each event
...provides a detailed map of fiber

Why Test Fiber with an
T!"#
Working Principles of OTDR
Typical OTDR applications
What can an OTDR tell you?
How Does an OTDR Work?
OTDRBlock Diagram
!nderstanding OTDR Specs
Typical OTDR Test
OTDR Report
OTDR applications
Fiber Installation
Emergency Fault Locating
Preventive aintenance
onitoring of critical links !remote fiber

test system " RFT#$
%omplete net&ork 'atabase

W(at can an OTDR tell you)
Total loss of a fiber
Total reflection of t(e system !Optical

Return Loss " ORL$
Location an' type of eac( event
Loss an' Reflection of eac( event
*ttenuation of eac( fiber sections

+o& Does an OTDR Work)
For eac( pulse sent, up to -. ...

points are ac/uire'
+un're's of pulses are sent in t(e

fiber eac( secon'
Eac( point is t(en average'

t(ousan's of times
T(e longer t(e ac/uisition time, t(e

better t(e results 0
+o& Does an OTDR Work)
OTDR performance comes from a blen' of tec(nologies

1
2uality, po&erful optics
1
Proper electronic 'esign
1
Efficient 'ata ac/uisition an' soft&are processing
1
3ears of fine tuning
1
444 an' engineering magic touc(0
Laser 5 %oupler 5 P(oto'etector
Fresnel Reflections along t(e fiber are measure'
Rayleig( 6ackscatter along t(e fiber is measure'

OTDR"6lock Diagram
Function Diagrams
OTDR launches a series of optical pulses into the fiber, and

then measure the backward optical signal v.s. time taken for
the light travels through the fiber
The measurement trace, which is called fiber trace, is

shown on the !D panel.
Distance Range
d " #t$!% & #'$(OR%
d, displa)ed distance
(OR, (nde* of Refraction
t, time for round trip
!, light speed in vacuum
The distance range

determines the time
interval of successive
pulse in OTDR
(+, bus
interface
R,- &
Registers
,&D
converters
Fiber
coupler
,.D
-icro/
controller
aser
Fiber
!onnector Fiber under test
$nderstanding T!" Specs
!ynamic "ange
!ynamic "ange
!ead %ones
!ead %ones
!istance &ccuracy
!istance &ccuracy
Sampling "esolution
Sampling "esolution
'vent (ocation
'vent (ocation
&ccuracy
&ccuracy
(oss "esolution
(oss "esolution
(oss Threshold
(oss Threshold
Splice (oss &ccuracy
"eflectance &ccuracy
!ynamic "ange
$sed for many years) to indicate attainable

distances
S*"+,
The most popular method of calculating

dynamic range method
Dynamic Range = 28 dB
SNR=1
SNR: Signal to Noise Ratio.
Dynamic Range = 40 dB
!ynamic "ange -S*"+,.
Dynamic range an' Distance
Distance covere' 'epen's of fiber

teste'
Relate' to fiber attenuation, e78

9. '6 at .4: '65km ; :.. km ma74
9. '6 at .4:< '65km ; =>. km ma74
Re'uce' by event losses, e78

< events of ='6 loss re'uce 'istance range
by < '6 at .4: '65km ; :< km
,/ us pulse
0/ us pulse
!ead %one
resulting from reflective event
a temporary 1blinding2 of the T!"

detector
!etector saturation due to high

reflectance
Two types of dead zones3

'vent and &ttenuation dead zones
'vent !ead %one
The ability to !'T'4T an event

that closely follows a reflective
event
There is a !ead %one for each

reflective event
5igger reflectance -saturated.

means larger 'vent !ead %one
6easured on the trace at ,.7 d5

from the pea8 of the reflective
event
1.5 dB
&ttenuation !ead %one
The ability to 6'&S$"' an

event that closely follows a
reflective event
'9trapolate a line from the trace

points following the reflective
event -towards the event.
(ocate the point on the trace

that is /.7 d5 higher than the
e9trapolated line
The attenuation dead zone is

defined as the distance between
the beginning of the event and
the previously located point.
0.5 dB
!ead %one
The longer the pulse) the longer the !%
'vent dead zone e9amples3
0.7 meters with ,/ ns -,m. pulse
,/07 meters with ,/ us -,8m. pulse
Specifications are based on best case scenario

(oss "esolution
6inimal distance in d5 -y-a9is. between two points
:t;s a physical specification of the T!"
:t has nothing to do with loss or splice loss

accuracy.
0.001 dB
(oss Threshold
The minimal loss difference between two splice

loss measurements3 -/./, d5 .
The T!" can differentiate between a ,./7 and

,./< d5 splice) but not ,./7 and ,./7= d5
6inimal splice loss that can be detected by the

Tool5o9 analysis software is /./> d5
The T!" can measure splices /./> d5 and

greater with a resolution of /./, d5
Splice (oss "esolution
?3 !oes this mean that the T!" will

detect every splice above /./> d5 #
&nswer 3 *@
:t depends on the amount of noise@
:t depends on the pulse you are using@

The abilit) for the anal)sis software

to measure the loss of a splice
precisel).
Depends on man) things...
0oise
inearit)
Response to high reflectance
Distance from the front end connector.
ower #1 2.3 d4% at the limit of the

measurement range
4etter #1 2.23 d4% near the front end

connector.
Accurate
Noisy data
(less accurate)
Linearity problems
(less accurate)
Sampling "esolution
!istance "ange A *umber of acBuisition points
6ore points + better distance C loss precision
'9ample3 ,7/ 8m A >/ /// points + 7 meters

5 m
Typical T!" sampling
resolutions and data points.
"&*D'-Em. Sampling "esolution !ata Foints
.<078m ./Gm -./HG,m. G)///
0.78m .,7<07m ,<)///
,/8m .<07m ,<)///
0/8m ,.07m ,<)///
=/8m 0.7m ,<)///
G/8m 7m ,<)///
,7/8m 7m >/)///

Sampling Foints C
!istance &ccuracy
!istance &ccuracy
!istance accuracy3
physical limitation of the T!"
not software related
:t gives the e9pected error on the location of

a point seen by the T!" -in meters. with
respect to its real physical location
!istance &ccuracy
, m3 $ncertainty of the 1distance zero2

location
Fiber length in the unit) "ise Time 'lectronic (atency

Time
/.//07IJ!istance3 &cBuisition 4loc8 'rror
Sampling resolution
Fiber :nde9 $ncertainty -:". can also

induce distance reading variations
Spec.3 K ,m K /.//07I of dist. K Sampling res.
n ,7/ 8m3 K ,m K >.H7m K 7m + KL.H7 m
Dont forget! Its also dependant on these two factors...
Helical factor Index of refraction
'vent (ocation &ccuracy
!epends on...
...the ability for the analysis software to locate an
event precisely
...noise level) distance from the front end connector)
and number of points.
The ability for the analysis software to

measure reflectance precisely
&nritsu specifies K = d5.

(inearity
The capability of the T!" to produce a straight

line for the entire trace.
& trace that is curved would give a higher splice

loss than what it is in reality.
&nritsu specifies /./7 d5 per d5.

1 dB
Between 0.95 and 1.05 dB
$sing the T!"
Set the :nde9 f "efraction -:".
Set the wavelength according to the system

under test
Set the pulse width
Set the distance range
Set the acBuisition time
Shoot the fiber.

&uto-&nalysis using a 6ini-T!"
'vent table containing3-for each event.
Type of fault
!istance to fault
&ttenuation
ptical return loss
Splice loss.
OTDR Test #etup
Typical T!" Test
#ample8 OTDR *nritsu Report

Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (OTDR) Note

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Courtesy from Significant Technologies Sdn Bhd

OPTICAL TIME DOMAIN

Single ended test that...

...characterizes fiber from end-to-end

...locate and measure each event

...provides a detailed map of fiber

Typical OTDR applications

What can an OTDR tell you?

How Does an OTDR Work?

!nderstanding OTDR Specs

Typical OTDR Test

Emergency Fault Locating

onitoring of critical links !remote fiber

%omplete net&ork 'atabase

Total loss of a fiber

Total reflection of t(e system !Optical

Location an' type of eac( event

Loss an' Reflection of eac( event

*ttenuation of eac( fiber sections

For eac( pulse sent, up to -. ...

+un're's of pulses are sent in t(e

Eac( point is t(en average'

T(e longer t(e ac/uisition time, t(e

OTDR performance comes from a blen' of tec(nologies

Laser 5 %oupler 5 P(oto'etector

Fresnel Reflections along t(e fiber are measure'

Rayleig( 6ackscatter along t(e fiber is measure'

OTDR launches a series of optical pulses into the fiber, and

The measurement trace, which is called fiber trace, is

(OR, (nde* of Refraction

t, time for round trip

!, light speed in vacuum

The distance range

$sed for many years) to indicate attainable

The most popular method of calculating

Distance covere' 'epen's of fiber

Relate' to fiber attenuation, e78

Re'uce' by event losses, e78

resulting from reflective event

a temporary 1blinding2 of the T!"

!etector saturation due to high

Two types of dead zones3

The ability to !'T'4T an event

There is a !ead %one for each

5igger reflectance -saturated.

6easured on the trace at ,.7 d5

The ability to 6'&S$"' an

'9trapolate a line from the trace

(ocate the point on the trace

The attenuation dead zone is

The longer the pulse) the longer the !%

'vent dead zone e9amples3

0.7 meters with ,/ ns -,m. pulse

,/07 meters with ,/ us -,8m. pulse

Specifications are based on best case scenario

6inimal distance in d5 -y-a9is. between two points

:t;s a physical specification of the T!"

:t has nothing to do with loss or splice loss

The minimal loss difference between two splice

The T!" can differentiate between a ,./7 and

6inimal splice loss that can be detected by the

The T!" can measure splices /./> d5 and

?3 !oes this mean that the T!" will

:t depends on the amount of noise@