Remote fibre test and monitoring solutions

Optical network data rates are pushing new limits in transmission speeds due to wavelength and fibre density through dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), high fibre count cables and complex point-to-multi-point and multi-fibre push on (MPO) architectures. It is more important than ever that network equipment manufacturers (NEMs) and network operators add remote network intelligence to ensure high quality of service (QoS), near 100% uptime, and security.

To do this they must also scale fibre network deployment, accelerate construction, service revenue turn-up and manage an ever-increasing maintenance workload. Automated, remote intelligence allows for the ability to scale high quality standards and speeds without adding commensurate expense and workload.

VIAVI answers the call with several new remote test and monitoring solutions that leverage rapid response and automation for managing dense, complex networks:

A new, patented Flash Fibre Monitoring feature for ONMSi and SmartOTU software that enables operators to detect and locate a flash attenuation that causes network route flapping and burst network error conditions. An industry first, the feature is 100 to 300 times faster than traditional monitoring, with performance that can detect flash attenuation in an unprecedented one-tenth of a second.

Network route flapping is one of the most common but damaging and difficult problems to diagnose.  Until now, operators had no way to detect or locate flash attenuation events that are a root cause of millions of communication errors globally every year.

New iOTDR Micro and Nano cards that enable NEMs to integrate optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) technology into their elements at a low price, with low power and a small footprint. The advanced software library for the cards provides operators with the industry’s most diverse range of uses cases via an element-integrated iOTDR solution, potentially saving NEM R&D teams 2–3-person years of development time.

The cards support NEMs and their efforts for operators with an unmatched range of applications that include fibre characterisation, fibre monitoring, tapping security intrusion detection, fault demarcation, Raman amplified link test, and tracking fibre degradation for preventative maintenance.

New fibre network analytics using the NITRO BI Fibre Insight Platform for ONMSi, automate fibre diagnostics to proactively eliminate risks and create a prioritised network performance improvement action plan. The fibre trends and aging use cases allow operators to see simplified reporting across the entire fibre network to revise procedures. All fibres can be graded by the cable, customer, network location down to the root cause fault type – turning mountains of raw data into actionable insight.

“With these additions to the ONMS line, VIAVI innovation continues to lead the industry in helping customers scale construction and maintain performance of critical fibre infrastructure to alleviate years of workload on network staff,” said Kevin Oliver, Vice President and General Manager, Converged Instruments and Virtual Test, VIAVI. "With the ability to proactively monitor fibre using automated, remote test capabilities ­– service providers, NEMS and hyperscale operators can reduce expensive downtime and repair dispatch using proactive, assessment of the network health, improving the performance, reliability and customer satisfaction across the fibre lifecycle." 

In addition to the ONMSi remote fibre test system, VIAVI offers the industry’s highest-performance OTDR technology to produce an accurate, high resolution trace to locate faults, intrusions and degradation that supports metro, core, access, and all fibre networks. VIAVI offers two types of optical test heads that work in tandem with ONMSi and NITRO software to enable customers to optimise flexible OTDR capabilities, rack footprint and price point: OTU-8000 and OTU-5000. The system can be used for PON construction and service provisioning, ongoing monitoring, infrastructure monitoring and network security applications.

The new capabilities for ONMS further expand the most comprehensive fibre test portfolio in the industry, including PON/FTTX innovations for fibre monitoring, construction/installation, and first-to-market innovation.