OTDR performance enhancement through erbium fibre amplification

By employing erbium fibre amplification of both the outgoing transmitter pulses and the returning backscatter signals of an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR), a substantial increase is achieved in the one-way dynamic measurement range. First experimental results are presented showing almost 10 dB net improvement in OTDR range, with the potential established for performance increases of up to 20 dB one-way. The prospects are discussed for such performance improvements both in high-resolution OTDR applications and for long-distance fault location.<>