Optical fault locator
US6381011B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 4, 2000 |
| Grant date | Apr 30, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 4, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01M11/3109
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A hand held optical fault locator used to determine the distance to a discontinuity in a fiber optic cable, such as a break, nick, cut, scrape, indentation, or the like, a splice, a connector, or the end of the cable. The locator includes an analog front end, a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a laser diode and drive, a microcontroller, at least one input, and at least one output. The preferred locator allows a user to select a specific index of refraction, to measure the distance to a fault directly in feet or meters, to measure fiber lengths at counting frequencies in the 100KHz range, to determine fiber reflection events in the digital-time domain, and to make accurate measurements without the use of a sensitivity adjustment feature.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.