Patent ID: 8660423

Claim:
A fiber monitoring system for monitoring an optical fiber network, comprising: a front-end circuit, comprising: a burst validation block for identifying, within a plurality of bursts of data signals to be transmitted during normal operation of an optical fiber network, a set of bursts of data signals that are suitable for monitoring operation of the optical fiber network; a laser module comprising a laser diode configured to (i) transmit the plurality of bursts of data signals over the optical fiber network during normal operation of the optical fiber network and (ii) receive optical echo signals of the set of bursts of data signals that are suitable for monitoring operation of the optical fiber network; a driving circuit configured to (i) provide the bursts of data signals to the laser module and (ii) issue a disabling signal to stop the laser diode from transmitting the bursts of data signals and start the laser diode receiving the optical echo signals of the set of bursts of data signals that are suitable for monitoring operation of the optical fiber network; and a receiver configured to receive the optical echo signals from the optical fiber network via the laser diode.