Patent ID: 11879802
Assignee: EXFO INC.
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 13:
14. An OTDR method for testing fiber link continuity in a multi-port device comprising at least one optical fiber link connected in loop between two ports of said multi-port device, according to a fiber arrangement, the method comprising:
performing OTDR acquisitions toward corresponding ports of said multi-port device to obtain a corresponding set of OTDR traces, wherein each OTDR acquisition is performed by propagating a test signal in the optical fiber link under test and detecting corresponding return light signal from the optical fiber link so as to obtain an OTDR trace representing backscattered and reflected light as a function of distance in the optical fiber link under test and wherein said corresponding ports comprise said two ports connected to said at least one optical fiber link;
extracting from at least one OTDR trace among said set, a first backscattering pattern corresponding to at least a portion of said one OTDR trace acquired over a first fiber span, wherein said one OTDR trace is acquired toward one port of a first optical fiber link;
searching for said first backscattering pattern in at least another OTDR trace of said set, wherein said another OTDR trace is found to match said one OTDR trace when the first backscattering pattern is found, the matching OTDR traces then being determined to be acquired toward opposite ports of said first optical fiber link;
wherein a link continuity of said first optical fiber link is determined when a match is found.