Backscattering measurements in optical fibres: separation of power decay from imperfection contribution

Time-resolved acousto-optic interaction in single-mode optical fibers: characterization of axial nonuniformities at the nanometer scale

“…Techniques to measure fluctuations of dispersion and mode field diameter along an optical fiber have been developed in the last two decades [10][11][12], although usually with spatial resolutions much longer than 1 meter. In this work, we report on the use of short packets of flexural acoustic waves for the distributed analysis of axial nonuniformities with a spatial resolution of the order of a few centimeters, along a section of single-mode fiber with length exceeding 1 m. AO interaction using acoustic wave packets has been used in the past to study axial variations of the AO phase-mismatch coefficient of bimodal birefringent fibers [13,14].…”

Calibration and standardization issues for the optical time-domain reflectometer

“…In some cases loss discrepancies can be minimized by taking measurements from both ends of the test fiber, but this obviates one of the principal advantages of the OTDR, namely that access to only one end of the fiber or cable is required. Methods have been proposed for reducing some types of these errors by appropriate signal analysis [8,9]. Nevertheless, since the backscatter method is based on operator interpretation of a test signature, it is plagued with instrumentindependent measurement ambiguities and uncertainties.…”

Optical time-domain reflectometer performance and calibration studies

“…Under these circumstances it may not be a straightforward matter to extract accurate attenuation values from the backscatter signature, at least from single-ended measurements. Divita and Rossi have shown [28] that it is possible to separate the fiber loss from other parameter fluctuations if backscatter measurements can be made from both fiber ends. In some cases, imprcved OTDR loss values can be made by simply averaging the attenuation (in dB) obtained from measurements made in this way.…”