How OTDR works and fiber splicing!

Fiber splicing is an important step to recover data loss. An optical reflectometer, or OTDR for short, is a high-tech instrument used in the fiber optic industry. An optical time domain reflectometer measures the time and intensity of light that is reflected through a fiber optic cable. Reflectometers can find flaws, breaks, bends, so that later, using a splicer for fiber optic cables, they can splice the fiber and repair the malfunction. An optical reflectometer allows you to technically measure the amount of light loss, as well as identify the exact point at which the loss occurs.

Loss of light in a fiber optic cable is a serious problem because it can interfere with or completely stop data transmission. There are so many communications networks now that the entire world is dependent on fiber optic cables for data transmission, and being able to quickly diagnose problems means that repairs can happen much faster, resulting in less network downtime.

OTDR works by injecting a series of optical pulses through the fiber, which is reflected back to the injection point and measures deviations in the light wave. Based on the deviation measurement results, it is usually possible to accurately locate the fault location.

But there are downsides to OTDR systems, and indicate that they can produce inaccurate measurements if two faults are close to each other. There is also the potential problem of faulty measurements, which can sometimes occur if the optical pulse has to travel a long distance. However, with proper training, a specialist can solve these problems and interpret the readings correctly.