Optical time domain reflectometry on optical amplifier systems

The use of optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) on long-span fiber transmission systems containing in-line optical amplifiers is discussed. Having identified the specific requirements for OTDR equipment, measurements were carried out on systems of up to 300 km in length, containing three semiconductor laser amplifiers. The results demonstrate that OTDR can be used not only for fault location on fiber links several hundred kilometers in length but also as an alternative to standard system supervisory techniques, thus providing the potential for minimizing the hardware in the optical amplifier stages of future long-span fiber optic transmission systems