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

Claim 12:
13. An OTDR system for testing fiber link continuity in a multi-fiber device comprising a plurality of optical fiber links, according to a fiber arrangement, the OTDR system comprising:
a data store storing a set of backscattering patterns acquired over a corresponding set of receive fibers, said backscattering patterns caused by fluctuations at least partly inherent from an optical fiber structure of said receive fibers;
an OTDR acquisition device connectable toward an end of an optical fiber link under test for performing one or more OTDR acquisitions toward the optical fiber link under test, wherein each OTDR acquisition is performed by propagating a test signal in the optical fiber link under test and detecting corresponding return light from the optical fiber link under test so as to obtain an OTDR trace representing backscattered and reflected light as a function of distance in the optical fiber link under test;
a processing unit configured for:
receiving an OTDR trace acquired toward at least one of said optical fiber links of said multi-fiber device, said one of said optical fiber links being connected at its remote end to a first receive fiber; and
searching in said OTDR trace for one backscattering pattern among said set, corresponding to one receive fiber, to determine if said first receive fiber matches said one receive fiber, wherein said backscattering patterns are used as signatures to recognize said one receive fiber in said OTDR trace;

wherein a link continuity of said one of said optical fiber links is determined when a match is found.