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Optical Monitoring

OM1 Optical Power Monitor

OM1 Optical Power Monitor

The OM1 Optical Power Meter constantly monitors the optical power level in a live optical network. It is inserted between the link receiver, or the input of a WDM system, and the dark fibre. Variations of the optical power level are immediately detected and can trigger alarms. The alarm thresholds are individually adapted to the fibre under test. Due to the high resolution, even tight bending of a fibre is detected. Therefore, the OM1 can be used to detect fibre intrusion attacks which use bend couplers to extract light from the fibre for (unauthorized) data monitoring. In principle the extracted light is missing at the far end of the fibre. That missing light is detected. Operators may use the OM1 to provide enhanced services, because an alarm is generated when a fibre is degraded, even before a total failure. The OM1 can be used to relate fibre problems to a certain carrier. For this purpose OM1’s are strategically placed at the exchange point between carriers and at each endpoint. If the level changes at some point in the middle it is quickly determined which section is at fault. Typical applications include permanent monitoring of many fibres in parallel. A shelf can hold 10 modules to monitor 20 fibres simultaneously.

OM2 Optical Spectrum Analyzer and OM3 Tap Coupler

OM2 Optical Spectrum Analyzer & OM3 Tap Coupler

The OM2 Optical Spectrum Analyzer is used to measure and visualize the wavelength within a DWDM cable and may generate network alarms depending on a number of wavelength related issues. The OM2 is used in combination with the OM3 Optical Tap Coupler module. The passive coupler is inserted into the data path and extracts 1% of the light to its monitor port. The OM2 connects to the monitor port. In practical applications there may be several points in the network that use the OM3 to provide a tap port, while just one or several OM2 may be moved about in the network upon requirements. Besides system surveillance, the unit is also ideally suited for ingress data monitoring in a multi carrier environment.

Optical Fibre Monitoring System

FM100 Optical Fibre Monitoring System

The FM100 Fibre Monitor is a real-time optical fibre network monitoring & testing system that is able to detect fibre damages, fibre cuts and fibre degradation over time. The system performs active (live) fibre monitoring by using WDM coupler to separate measurement data from live data traffic. The system is independent of the application and data rate. Based on the OTDR(i) principle, the FM100 Fibre Monitor precisely profiles the attenuation graph of a given fibre. Any variation from the stored profile will trigger an alarm. Due to time domain measurement the exact location of any fault is detected and reported. The FM100 Fibre Monitor is able to alert operation staff through alarm notification. The alarm report consists of type of alarm, date and time of alarm, location of fault, cable ID and fibre ID. The alarm thresholds are individually adaptable. The FM100 Fibre Monitor may be connected to GIS compliant systems to display cable faults directly on a geographical map.

LP1 Line Protection

The LP1 Line Protection constantly monitors the optical power levels of two separate fibre optic cables. When the power levels drop below a user defined threshold the internal optical switch re-routes the data to the alternative backup fibre. By operating the LP1 fibre problems are instantly detected and circumvented before the attached network equipment reacts. This eliminates slow and complex traffic re-routing in higher network layers. The LP1 features the same precision measurement technology that is used in the successful OM1 module. By matching the switching threshold to the monitored link, backup may be initiated due to link degradation and not just on total failure. Switching back to the main fibre may be automated or under manual control. The LP1 features a very high reliability optical switch to avoid adding risk to the critical data path that it controls. Data transport is possible even when the module is not powered up or unplugged from the system. The LP1 may be combined with DWDM or CWDM technology or it can be used stand-alone. The LP1 requires two adjacent slots in the shelf. Operation with other vendors optical equipment is possible.