Troubleshooting Optical Fiber Networks: Understanding and Using Optical Time-Domain Reflectometers (Hardcover)

by Duwayne R. Anderson (Author), Larry M. Johnson (Author), Florian G. Bell (Author) "The development of optical fiber has enabled a revolution in modern telecommunications..." (more)
Key Phrases: nonreflective events, integrated return loss, reflective dynamic range, The Light Brigade, Applied Optics, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Book Description
Learn to use the most valuable piece of test equipment for installing, troubleshooting, and repairing optical fiber networks!

Product Description
This book offers comprehensive, state-of-the-art information about time-domain fiber-optic testing. Readers will gain an understanding of how to troubleshoot optical-fiber networks using an optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR), while learning the fundamental principles underlying the operation of these powerful testing instruments. From basic fiber optics and fiber testing, to detailed event-analysis techniques, this book covers the entire spectrum of time-domain optical cable test theory and applications.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 437 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press (May 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0120586614
• ISBN-13: 978-0120586615
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #475,496 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good addition to the technical bookshelf, June 27, 2005

By	Eugene Rudkevich "FTTHblog" (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My company, Taliescent, makes measurement standards for fiber optic test instruments. We have recently decided to add products for the FTTH market and the first logical product would be a way to verify Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) Measurements. Since I have not dealt with OTDRs since graduate school, and I was attending the Optical Fiber Conference in Anaheim, CA I decided to go talk about our product ideas with one of the experts, Larry Johnson who is the president of The Light Brigade. His company provides live fiber optic training and makes training videos aimed at the technician and the installer market. During our conversation he mentioned that he co-authored a book on OTDRs. Figuring this would be a useful resource, I went to the Elsevier Publishers booth where they happened to have the book. I then told the booth lady that I publish an online fiber optic newsletter (ftthblog.com) and would like to review the book. So she gave me the book for free.
So, I guess now I have to review this book the title of which is "Troubleshooting Optical Fiber Networks, Understanding Your Optical Time Domain Reflectometer". First, a little background on OTDRs. This was one of the first fiber optic test instruments introduced commercially 24 years ago and is still evolving and one of the most commonly used. Basically an OTDR shoots a pulse of light into the fiber and monitors the reflections. From this measurement, the user can tell whats happening in a fiber network many kilometers downstream from where the measurement is made. For example, you can tell that there is break in the fiber 5.4 km from where you are. This is very useful information if you are troubleshooting or commisioning a fiber optic installation.
This book is very good in that it was written by two scientists from Tektronix, Duwayne Anderson and Florian Bell, who have intricate knowledge of all the technical aspects, and by Larry Johnson, who is very familiar on how users interact with the instrument and what kind of information would be useful to them. This combination produced a book that is very readable but also provides enough meat for an engineer or a scientist.
The book starts with an short history of the OTDR, moves on to a basic tutorial of fiber optics and then dives in to the various technical aspects of the insides of anOTDR. The second part of the book focuses on the various types of measurements that can be made with the OTDR and finally finishes up with some advice on selecting the appropriate OTDR, since they come in many flavors. The book can be used in several different ways. If you want a crash course on OTDRs, as I did, this is a very good place to start. Also, it functions as a good reference that you keep on the bookshelf. Finally, its a good textbook for a course on OTDRs aimed at technicians or even engineers, since it has ample references and study questions at the end of each chapter. As an added bonus, there is a training CD from the Light Brigade included with the book that provides some good videos on how an OTDR is used in the field.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fiber optic testing, January 18, 2008

By	Ray W. Southworth (Havre, MT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a must own book. Explains in detail and basic terms on how OTDR's work. One of my best books that I refer to. Wow....

5.0 out of 5 stars All about OTDRs and much more, November 18, 2004

By	Duwayne Anderson (Saint Helens, Oregon) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In 1989 two of us (Bell and Anderson) sat in our offices, across the hall from each other, discussing the history of optical time-domain reflectometers (OTDRs), the technology required to build these amazing machines, and the surprising depth of complexity associated with their use. As we discussed these issues, our conversation began to focus on the idea of a comprehensive engineering guide for OTDR users. It seemed obvious that, with increasing popularity and use of OTDRs, an authoritative text on the subject was needed.

At the time (1997) we were engineers at Tektronix, in the company's Cable and Network Analysis division. In 1997, Tektronix was a major producer of OTDRs, and our book was the first single-source handbook describing optical time-domain reflectometers (OTDRs). Tektronix sponsored our work in writing the book, and published and distributed it worldwide.

At the time, worldwide investment in fiber-optic networks was expanding in double digits, and Tektronix was one of the top manufacturers of OTDRs, responsible for both their early innovation and development of several key technologies. Neither of us could have anticipated the dramatic changes that would take place in the next six years. While fiber optics proceeded at a steady and respectable pace during most of the 1990s, the industry exploded in irrational exuberance near the turn of the century as part of the telecom bubble, only to be followed by a deep depression that would see many companies, including Tektronix, abandon key business sectors devoted to optical telecom by the end of 2003.

Through these tumultuous times, the OTDR continued its remarkable evolution, resulting in today's machines, which are considerably smaller, faster, more capable, and less expensive than their earlier predecessors. The evolution of OTDRs has been driven largely by the widespread use and deployment of optical fiber, and the need to put high-powered test capability into the hands of the optical technicians that engage daily in installing, maintaining, and repairing these networks. The days of optical engineers doing field tests with bulky $35,000 OTDRs are gone forever.

It is because of the dramatic changes in the markets and science of OTDRs that a second edition is needed. Furthermore, the widespread use of OTDRs necessitates publishing and distributing the book in a manner that makes it more widely available to field technicians as well as engineers. These changes also demand a new title that reflects a broader theme to the book and goes beyond simply testing with OTDRs to address broader issues surrounding fiber-optic networks in general, and how to keep them working properly.

Because OTDRs have evolved from difficult-to-use, specialized equipment to ubiquitous mainstay status, we found the book required additional contributions from a third author. Larry Johnson, owner and founder of The Light Brigade, was the obvious choice. Larry's company is a leading training organization with nearly two decades of experience teaching technicians how to use OTDRs in the field to install, maintain, and repair fiber-optic networks. He has an intimate knowledge of the challenges and needs of the technician that are unmatched in the industry, as well as a high degree of familiarity with different OTDR manufacturers their products and related fiber optic standards.

As with the first edition, our objective in writing this book is go beyond a simple handbook that discusses operational procedures such as cursor placement and waveform interpretation. While we do cover these topics, we also explain more esoteric subjects and give insight into the technical nuances of OTDRs that enable non-traditional OTDR measurements such as mode-field diameter, cut-off wavelength, and polarization mode dispersion. We also dedicate considerable attention to measurement errors and how to estimate them. This, especially, is a subject with which all OTDR users should be quantitatively familiar. As a part of this, we have devoted a chapter to event-marking software, which was the key innovation that resulted in OTDRs being readily used by field technicians.

Our target audience is practicing engineers, system technicians, and field technicians. We have constructed each chapter so that, for the most part, simpler concepts and ideas are discussed first, followed by concepts of increasing difficulty as the chapter progresses. The level of difficulty varies. When this happens, we try to warn the reader that the level of difficulty may rise but subside in succeeding sections. We have also added a short quiz at the end of each chapter so that the book can be used in the classroom as a text, or for self-study.

The book makes full use of mathematical equations and detail which are used liberally throughout the text. These are intended to provide quantitative support for many of the book's central points. Though we use them unabashedly, most of the equations are summaries, with few derivations, and involve only algebra or elementary calculus. Where appropriate, we use diagrams and text that illustrate ideas embedded within the equations so that full command of the mathematics is not necessary to obtain an intuitive feel for the subject being discussed. For the most part, the book can be read and the key points understood without having to understand the mathematical equations. For those who want to delve a little deeper, however, the mathematics opens the door to understanding OTDRs at a level of detail that should appeal to design engineers.

We hope this book serves as a useful desk reference, and provides value even if not read cover-to-cover. Toward this end, we have included a detailed table of contents, glossary of terms, glossary of mathematical variables, and a detailed index.