Enabling communication of multi-media messages during bidirectional testing of a communication link under test (lut)

An apparatus to conduct bidirectional testing of a fiber optic link under test (LUT), comprising:

• a processor;
• a display to display information related to a bidirectional measurement of the LUT;
• a memory to store machine readable instructions executable by the processor;
• a pulse generator to generate an optical signal for propagation over the LUT to initiate a first acquisition associated with the LUT;
• a time controller to determine a time slot during the bidirectional measurement of the LUT to send a multimedia message;
• and
• a message generation controller to:
• receive information related to the multimedia message;
• prepare the multimedia message to be sent over the LUT;
• and
• send the multimedia message to a data transmission component for transmission over the LUT during the time slot.

A method for communicating during bidirectional testing of a fiber optic link under test (LUT), the method comprising:

• implementing a first wavelength to initiate a bidirectional measurement of the LUT, including initiating a first acquisition by a first optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR);
• receiving a request, prior to completion of the bidirectional measurement of the LUT, to send a multimedia message over the LUT during the bidirectional measurement of the LUT;
• determining a second wavelength to utilize for sending the multimedia message over the LUT;
• and
• implementing the second wavelength to send the multimedia message in real-time over the LUT to a second OTDR.