Optical fibre monitoring software detects occasional faults

The new AQ7940 software is designed to meet the needs of operators or users
of fibre-optic networks in locations that may be prone to occasional faults
caused by temperature variations, moisture ingress, insects or rodent
attacks. Traditional remote monitoring systems, normally used on
larger-scale networks, are complex to set up, expensive and require highly
trained operators, whereas the AQ7940 offers a solution that is both easy to
operate and inexpensive.

In a typical application, the unattended OTDR is controlled by a PC via a
USB or Ethernet interface. Using the Yokogawa AQ7940 monitoring software,
the instrument can then continuously monitor optical lines, without the need
for an engineer to be present.

With this setup, all line interruptions down to 100 ms are detected, and the
corresponding measurement results (including OTDR traces) are logged by the
PC software to produce a fault data log. The operator then simply checks the
logged data to see what has happened during the period of unattended
operation.

The AQ7275 OTDR offers a 100 ms response time at wavelengths of 850, 1300,
1310, 1550 and 1625 nm. A filter provides active line monitoring at the 1625
nm wavelength