The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 12, 1995
Filed:
May. 06, 1993
Thomas W Parks, Ithaca, NY (US);
Annette L Vandervort, Corning, NY (US);
Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY (US);
Abstract
A method for detecting reflection-type discontinuities in an optical waveguide fiber, such as those produced by a fiber break, a contaminant in the glass making up the fiber, a microbend, or a mechanical splice or connector, is provided. The method employs an optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) and involves cross-correlating an OTDR trace or a modified OTDR trace, e.g., one from which fiber attenuation has been subtracted, with a predetermined waveform which is characteristic of a reflection-type discontinuity. The predetermined waveform can compensate for differences between the noise spectrum of the OTDR trace and white noise. In particular, a predetermined waveform obtained by backward differencing and then forwarding differencing an average of waveforms known to correspond to reflection-type discontinuities is able to provide such white noise compensation.