Abstract
For many uses current optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) instruments have a prohibitively large (10-100-m) dead zone. The dead zone is the length of fiber between a Fresnel reflection and the point where the instrument has recovered enough to measure Rayleigh scattering. It is caused when a reflected pulse of light ionizes impurities in the detector or produces linear or thermal transients in the amplifier. An OTDR instrument with a fast optical switch to mask these unwanted reflections would have a resolution limited only by the pulse length from the light source. Also, with an optical switch the —6-dB insertion loss inherent in systems with passive couplers can be reduced or eliminated.
© 1990 Optical Society of America
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