Circuit, system and method for monitoring an optical fibre network

• Main Authors: XING ZHI, QIU, VANDEWEGE, JAN, DE MULDER, BERT, WEI, CHEN
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; French; German
• Published: 01.02.2012
• Subjects: ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; MEASURING; PHYSICS; TESTING; TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES ORSTRUCTURES; TESTING STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TRANSMISSION

The present invention is related to a front-end circuit for an optical communication system comprising a laser module (10) arranged for transmitting bursts of data signals over an optical network and a driving circuit (12) for providing the bursts of data signals to the laser module (10). The front-end circuit further comprises receiver means (14) in connection with said laser module (10) and arranged for receiving from the optical network optical echo signals. The laser module (10) comprises a laser diode (16) arranged for transmitting the bursts of data signals. The driving circuit (12) is arranged for setting a disabling signal for stopping the laser diode (16) from transmitting bursts of the data signals. Fibre-related information can be extracted from the echo signals, such as distance-resolved optical fibre reflections and fibre attenuation.