Patent ID: 9553881
Date: 2017-01-24
CPC Classifications: H04B,H04J,H04L,H04Q

Claim:
1. An apparatus for an optical communications network, the apparatus comprising: at least two optical paths for optical traffic to or from other nodes, the optical paths having respective optical ports, wherein at least one of the optical ports is configured as an unused output port, available for future use for optical traffic, and a security monitoring system for detecting unauthorised access, the system comprising: a blocking part coupled removably to the unused output port to occupy the unused output port so as to exclude any other part from using the unused output port to gain unauthorised access to the optical path of the unused output port; an optical detector coupled to the blocking part and configured to detect optical signals passing through the unused output port and to detect a break in the optical signals; and alarm circuitry configured to output an alarm signal indicative that the unused output port has been accessed based on the detecting of the break in the optical signals by the optical detector.