Patent ID: 7474830

Claim:
A system comprising: a transmitter at a first end of a fiber pathway composed of at least one optical fiber configured to propagate an optical test signal along a channel of the fiber pathway; a first variable optical attenuator disposed at the first end of the fiber pathway and configured to attenuate the strength of the optical test signal propagated by the transmitter; a receiver configured to receive the optical test signal that has been propagated along the fiber pathway; and a computing device configured to communicate with the transmitter, the first variable optical attenuator, and the receiver; wherein the computing device is configured to monitor at least one other channel of the fiber pathway and to identify effects upon the at least one other channel resulting from attenuation of the optical test signal, and to generate a data indicator if one or more effects are identified; and wherein the first variable optical attenuator is configured to adjust attenuation of the optical test signal while the computing device monitors the effects upon the at least one other channel.