Patent ID: 7624314

Claim:
A method of determining the location of a fault along an electrically conductive and repeatered wireline serving digital subscriber equipment at a location remote with respect to a central office facility, said method comprising the steps of: (a) applying a wideband electrical stimulus in accordance with a digital data signal to said electrically conductive and repeatered wireline from a repeater installed in said electrically conductive wireline; (b) at said repeater, measuring a response of said electrically conductive and repeatered wireline to said wideband electrical stimulus applied in step (a), adjusting parameters of a digital echo canceler in accordance with the measured response of said electrically conductive and repeatered wireline to said wideband electrical stimulus, and generating an output representative of said parameters of said digital echo canceler and from which the distance from said repeater to said fault is to be determined; and (c) processing said output generated in step (b) to determine where, in said electrically conductive and repeatered wireline, said fault is located.