Testing of fiber optic cable assemblies has been continuously improving over the last several years, as shown in Figure 6.
Instruments include light meters, which qualitatively measures light continuity in a fiber optic cable assembly. Power meters measure the overall cable assembly insertion and return loss. Optical Time Domain Reflectometry
(OTDR) injects a series of optical pulses into the cable assembly and measures the cable assembly’s length and overall attenuation, including splice and mated-connector losses. Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometery (OFDR) uses a swept laser source and an interferometer to measure the amplitude and phase response of reflected light as a function of distance, with up to 10 micron spatial resolution [6]. OFDR has the high sensitivity required to detect Rayleigh backscatter (> 130 dB) and thus use standard single mode fiber as the transducer. OFDR technology can
be used to diagnose and troubleshoot the sensor fibers and optical networks used for data transmission in both single mode and multimode fiber. OFDR offers a significant improvement in diagnostic capabilities when compared to using a light source, power meter or OTDR. This is due to the OFDR’s combination of high spatial resolution, high sensitivity and zero dead-zone.
Endface geometry defines fiber optic terminus end face parameters radius of curvature, apex offset, and fiber height, as seen in Figure 7. The development and implementation of