AUGUST 21, 2007 -- The Light Brigade has added the course "Fiber Characterization: PMD, CD, and ORL" to its training lineup. This three-day course provides not only the classroom instruction necessary to understand the theory and principles of fiber characterization, it also includes hands-on instruction on fiber-optic splicing, connector inspection and cleaning, span testing, and documentation.
Over the past 20 years, fiber-optic cables have come to handle exponentially increasing bandwidth demands. As network speeds increase, optical dispersion compensation becomes more critical for maintaining high signal quality and low bit-error rates. Transmission equipment manufacturers often will not guarantee the performance of their systems unless polarization-mode dispersion (PMD), chromatic dispersion (CD), and optical return loss (ORL) tests have been documented. These vital tests require an understanding of the importance of cleanliness of the optical connections as well as how to properly perform reflection measurements using an optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR).
Day one of the course will include classroom review of basic optical theory, standards, transmission basics, fiber types, connectors, test equipment, installation, systems, and the theory and principles of dispersion.
Day two will focus on OTDRs, detailing the types available and how they function, as well as giving practical experience with OTDR calibration and setup, loss measurement, and the proper use of deadzone boxes and terminators for reflectance measurement.
During day three, attendees will build an 80-km span using G.655 fiber (at 1,550 nm), and a 50-km span using G.652 fiber (at 1,310 nm). After testing and documenting these spans for PMD and CD, the attendees will insert dispersion-compensating modules into each span and then re-test for the new dispersion values.
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