Patent ID: 7684695

Claim:
An apparatus for indicating a fault location along a fiber optic path, comprising: a first light source that emits a first signal at a visible wavelength for fault detection; a second light source that emits a second signal at a nonvisible wavelength for data transmission, wherein the first signal and the second signal are transmitted as a combined signal over the fiber optic path; a receiver having a photodetector that converts the second signal from the nonvisible wavelength to an electrical signal; and a diverting structure embedded in the fiber optic path to divert at least a portion of the visible wavelength of the first signal through an optical window while allowing undiminished data transmission through the fiber optic path using the nonvisible wavelength; wherein the diverting structure embedded in the fiber optic path is a lens structure to divert at least the portion of the first signal through the optical window.