Remote measurement of wavelength dependent information about optical components

US6067150A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Hewlett-Packard Company, L.P. · US

Inventors

• Josef Beller · Reutlingen, DE
• Peter Thoma · Mannheim, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 15, 1998
• Grant date: May 23, 2000
• Expiry date: Dec 15, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01M11/3109
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Disclosed is a system for determining wavelength dependent information, preferably event loss, reflectance, center wavelength, cross talk, directivity, and/or isolation, about an optical component in an optical structure. The system includes at least one light emitting source for providing light signals at a plurality of different wavelengths to an optical link which is in an optical connection with the optical component, a measuring unit for measuring a backscattered and/or reflected signal versus time returning from the optical structure, and a processing unit for determining the wavelength dependent information about the optical component by processing the measured signal versus time as measured for a plurality of light signals at different wavelengths. A particularly advantageous application of the invention is to determine the wavelength dependent spatial structure of an optical network. In that case, the wavelength dependent information is associated with spatial information representing spatial properties of the optical component.