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US 8,525,981 B2Granted
Return loss measurement system
AssigneeVerizon Patent and Licensing Inc.
InventorsDavid Zhi Chen, Vijay Jain
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method may include injecting a test signal having a first optical launch power into a device under test via an optical splitter. The optical splitter includes at least two upstream ports and a downstream port and the test signal is injected in a first upstream port of the optical splitter. The device under test is coupled to the downstream port. Return loss associated with the device under test is measured at a second upstream input of the optical splitter. The RL measurement in stored a database. The injecting, measuring, and storing are repeated for a number of different optical launch powers.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- injecting a test signal having a first optical launch power into a device under test via an optical splitter,
- wherein the optical splitter includes at least two upstream ports and at least two downstream ports,
- wherein the test signal is injected in a first upstream port of the optical splitter, and
- wherein the device under test is coupled to a first one of the at least two downstream ports;
- receiving the test signal at a launch power monitor coupled to a second one of the at least two downstream ports;
- measuring the optical launch power of the test signal by the launch power monitor;
- determining whether the measured optical launch power matches test parameters for the test signal;
- adjusting the injected test signal when the measured optical launch power does not match the test parameters;
- measuring return loss (RL) associated with the device under test at a second upstream input of the optical splitter;
- storing the RL measurement in a database;
- and
- repeating the injecting, measuring, and storing for a number of different optical launch powers.
9 more elements
A return loss measurement system, comprising:
- a tunable signal source to emit a test signal on an optical fiber at a selected wavelength;
- a variable optical attenuator (VOA) optically coupled to the tunable signal source to attenuate the test signal to a selected optical launch power;
- an optical splitter having a first upstream port, a second upstream port, and a downstream port,
- wherein the first upstream port is optically coupled to the VOA;
- a device under test optically coupled to the downstream port of the optical splitter;
- a reflection power monitor optically coupled to the second upstream port to measure return loss (RL) associated with the device under test;
- and
- logic configured to:
- receive test parameters for an RL test, wherein the test parameters include at least the selected wavelength, a range of optical launch powers, and an optical launch power step interval;
- adjust the test signal based on the test parameters for a number of different optical launch powers;
- instruct the reflection power monitor to measure RL associated with the device under test for each of the number of different optical launch powers;
- and
- store the RL measurements in a database.
10 more elements
A return loss (RL) testing system, comprising:
- a tunable laser to generate a test signal having a selected wavelength;
- an optical amplifier optically coupled to an output of the tunable laser to boost the optical power of the test signal;
- a variable optical amplifier (VOA) optically coupled to an output of the optical amplifier to regulate the optical power of the test signal based on test parameters;
- a optical splitter having first and second upstream ports and first and second downstream ports, wherein the first upstream port is optically coupled to the VOA to receive the attenuated test signal;
- a device under test optically coupled to the first downstream port of the optical splitter;
- an optical launch power monitor optically coupled to the second downstream port of the optical splitter;
- and
- an RL measuring device optically coupled to the second upstream port of the optical splitter,
- wherein the RL measuring device is configured to receive a portion of the test signal back reflected from the device under test and transmitted through the first downstream port and the second upstream port of the optical splitter and measure RL of the device under test based on the received portion, and
- wherein the RL measuring device is configured to store the RL measurement.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.