"OTDR" redirects here. Not to be confused with On-Train Data Recorder. An OTDR An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is an optoelectronic instrument used to characterize an optical fiber. It is the optical equivalent of an electronic time domain reflectometer which measures the impedance of the cable or transmission line under test. An OTDR injects a series of optical pulses into the fiber under test and extracts, from the same end of the fiber, light that is scattered (Rayleigh backscatter) or reflected back from points along the fiber. The scattered or reflected light that is gathered back is used to characterize the optical fiber. The strength of the return pulses is measured and integrated as a function of time, and plotted as a function of length of the fiber. Reliability and quality of OTDR equipment The reliability and quality of an OTDR is based on its accuracy, measurement range, ability to resolve and measure closely spaced events, measurement speed, and ability to perform satisfactorily under various environmental extremes and after various types of physical abuse. The instrument is also judged on the basis of its cost, features provided, size, weight, and ease of use. Some of the terms often used in specifying the quality of an OTDR are as follows: Accuracy: Defined as the correctness of the measurement i.e., the difference between the measured value and the true value of the event being measured. Measurement range: Defined as the maximum attenuation that can be placed between the instrument and the event being measured, for which the instrument will still be able to measure the event within acceptable accuracy limits. Instrument resolution: Is a measure of how close two events can be spaced and still be recognized as two separate events. The duration of the measurement pulse and the data sampling interval create a resolution limitation for OTDRs. The shorter the pulse duration and the shorter the data sampling interval, the better the instrument resolution, but the shorter the measurement range. Resolution is also often limited when powerful reflections return to the OTDR and temporarily overload the detector. When this occurs, some time is required before the instrument can resolve a second fiber event. Some OTDR manufacturers use a “masking” procedure to improve resolution. The procedure shields or “masks” the detector from high-power fiber reflections, preventing detector overload and eliminating the need for detector recovery. Industry requirements for the reliability and quality of OTDRs are specified in the Generic Requirements for Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) Type Equipment.[1] Types of OTDR-like test equipment The common types of OTDR-like test equipment are: Full-feature OTDR: Full-feature OTDRs are traditional, optical time domain reflectometers. They are feature-rich and usually larger, heavier, and less portable than either the hand-held OTDR or the fiber break locator. Despite being characterized

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OTDR Theory Training
Workshop Event
Nov 2010 edition

2. 2 Dublin Workshop event 2
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Agenda
• OTDR Terminology
• OTDR Basics
» Distance Measurements
» Loss Measurements
» Reflectance Measurements
» ORL Measurements
• OTDR Setups
» IOR
» Backscatter coefficient
» Wavelength
» Range
» Resolution
» Pulse width
» Number of averages
• Anritsu MT9083x Access Master OTDR

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Launch
Reflective Event
Non-Reflective
Event
End/Fault
Noise
Distance
Return
Signal
Level
OTDR Terminology
Trace Basics

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After light leaves fibre end,
only internal electronic noise
shows up on OTDR screen.
End of fibre causes
reflection of light.
OTDR Terminology
Locating the end of the fibre

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• Measured in dB. Typical range is 20-50dB
• Describes how much loss an OTDR can measure in a
fibre, which in turn describes how long of a fibre can
be measured
• Directly related to Pulse Width: larger pulse widths
provide larger dynamic range
• Increase by using longer PW and by decreasing noise
thru averaging
OTDR Terminology
Dynamic Range

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• Converting Dynamic Range into Distance
» Can only be done on a straight piece of glass (no events)
» Need to know the dB/Km loss for each wavelength to be tested.
» Need to know the dynamic range at each wavelength.
» Distance = Dynamic Range
dB/Km
OTDR Terminology
Dynamic Range

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Dynamic Range
“98% noise level” (Bellcore standard)
“SNR = 1”
“RMS noise level”
OTDR Terminology
Dynamic Range

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[All measurements taken at 1310nm Wavelength]
The Pulse Width of the
OTDR will determine
how much fibre can be
measured before
running into Noise.
OTDR Terminology
Dynamic Range Examples

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• Specified as a DISTANCE
• Determines how CLOSE to OTDR you can detect
and measure a splice loss
• Determines how CLOSE TOGETHER two events
(splices) can be measured
• Directly related to PULSE WIDTH: larger pulse
widths produce larger dead zones
OTDR Terminology
Dead zones

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The distance from the start of a reflective event until you
can detect another reflective event. Measured at 1.5dB
below the peak of the initial reflection.
EDZ
OTDR Terminology
Reflective or Event Dead Zone

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The distance from the start of a reflective event until you can
measure the loss of another event. Measured at 0.5dB up
from the backscatter level after the reflection.
0.5dB up
ADZ
2nd event (splice)
OTDR Terminology
Non-Reflective or Attenuation Dead Zone

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Distance measurements
Locate End
Locate Splice
Loss measurements
Measure splice losses
Measure end to end
Reflectance measurements
Measure Reflectance
Measure ORL
OTDR Basics
Measurements

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d = distance
t = elapsed time
c = speed of light in a vacuum
n = Index of Refraction
Test pulse fired
Test pulse returned
“d”
d
d =
=
t C
t C
2 n
2 n If “n” is incorrect, then
the distance measured
will also be wrong!!
Must divide by
two to get one
way elapsed time.
OTDR Basics
Distance Measurements

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• Measuring distance
» To calculate the speed of light, the OTDR must
know the Index of Refraction (IOR).
» The IOR is a ratio between the speed of light in a
vacuum and the speed of light in a fibre.
» The IOR is obtained from the fibre manufacturer,
entered into the OTDR by the user and must be
accurate.
OTDR Basics
Distance Measurements

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• OTDRs measure backscatter
OTDRs calculate loss
OTDR calculates loss by comparing backscatter levels
to determine loss between points in fibre
OTDR Basics
Distance Measurements
OTDR Basics
Loss Measurements

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Backscatter is directly related to the power of the test pulse. As the
test pulse power decreases, so does the backscatter power.
The difference in strength between two points of backscatter is
directly proportional to the difference in strength between the test
pulse at the same two points.
A B
Test pulse
Backscatter
OTDR Basics
Loss Measurements

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• Different test wavelengths exhibit different
loss characteristics.
» 850nm - extremely susceptible to Rayleigh scattering loss
» 1244nm - very susceptible to hydrogen absorption and Rayleigh
scattering loss
» 1300nm - very susceptible to Rayleigh scattering loss
» 1310nm - susceptible to Rayleigh scattering loss
» 1550nm - very susceptible to macrobending loss
» 1625nm - extremely susceptible to macrobending loss
OTDR Basics
Loss Measurements

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1310nm
1625nm
Different wavelengths respond very differently to various losses.
OTDR Basics
Loss Measurements

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Misaligned cores cause loss
of light at splice point
Splice Loss
Splice Loss
For proper splice loss measurement, the linear
backscatter after the event must be extrapolated
to the beginning of the event to account for the
width of the test pulse. This is accomplished with
LSA cursors.
LSA cursor
OTDR Basics
Loss Measurements

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The most accurate method of OTDR splice loss measurement
entails bi-directional OTDR traces. The fibre is shot from both
ends and individual event splice losses are averaged together to
account for gainers.
OTDR Basics
Bi-directional Loss Measurements

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• OTDRs calculate event reflectance by comparing the
backscatter level just before an event to the backscatter
level during an event.
Reflectance
(calculated from formula)
Some events cause
reflections, or “spikes” of
returned light at the splice
point or fibre end
OTDR Basics
Reflectance Measurements

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Optical Return Loss (ORL) is measured in +dB and represents the
sum of all individual reflectances within a fibre span.
ORL
Backreflections
from Rayleigh
Scattering
Fresnel
Reflections
Transmitted
Light
OTDR Basics
ORL Measurements

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ORL is calculated as the total amount of light returning from the area between
the cursors below the trace line to the noise level.
It includes total Backscatter and all Reflections.
A B
OTDR Basics
ORL Measurements

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• Pulsed Light vs. Continuous wave
» OTDR affected by Noise, distance and Pulse width
» Deadzones prevent OTDR from measuring small reflections that often
follow large reflective events.
• OTDR = evaluated ORL Measurement
• CMA50 = True ORL Measurement
• Accuracy
» CMA50 ± 0.5dB
» OTDR ± 4dB
» CMA5000 SMART ORL ± 1dB
OTDR Basics
ORL Measurements

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OTDR Setups
» IOR
» Backscatter coefficient
» Wavelength
» Range
» Resolution
» Pulsewidth
» Number of averages

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Setting Up The OTDR
Fibre Details
• IOR
» obtain from fibre manufacturer, dial in on OTDR
• Backscatter coefficient
» obtain from fibre manufacturer, dial in on OTDR

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If the OTDR stops
measuring here...
…this data won’t
be acquired!
Setting Up the OTDR
Range
• Must be at least 25% greater than the fibre
under test.
• There is valuable information in the noise floor
which must be measured.

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Typically begin with the lowest resolution (highest
number) possible.
Pros - much faster acquisition time, smaller trace file
size
Cons - minimal degradation in accuracy of
measurements
Setting Up the OTDR
Resolution

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10m (33’)
Actual Splice Location
Measured Splice Location
Actual End Location
Measured End Location
Low Density (long DPS)
Setting Up the OTDR
Resolution

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3m (10’)
Actual Splice Location
Measured Splice Location
Actual End Location
Measured End Location
High Density (short DPS)
Setting Up the OTDR
Resolution

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Controls Dynamic Range and Dead Zone
10ns = 1 meter = 3 feet
100ns = 10 meters = 33 feet
10,000ns = 1,000 meters = 3,281 feet
10,000ns = 1,000 meters = 3,281 feet
A light pulse from the OTDR travels along
inside the fibre like water through a pipe.
Setting Up the OTDR
Pulse Width

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• The single most important parameter
• Use the shortest pulse width which still provides sufficient
dynamic range
Too short
(short deadzones
but insufficient DR)
Too long
(good DR but
large deadzones)
Just right
(good DR, short
deadzones)
Setting Up the OTDR
Pulse Width

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Noise shows up as variations in the
trace line. Longer averaging times
reduce the noise level.
Slow Scan
Slow Scan
Fast Scan
Fast Scan
Setting Up the OTDR
Averaging

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• Number of Averages
» The number of
averages will
contribute to the
amount of noise
present on a trace.
» Use the least number
of averages which still
produces clean,
useable traces.
Too few
(noisy
trace)
Too much
(wasted time)
Just
right
Setting Up the OTDR
Averaging

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Thank You
Questions?