Increasing security requirements and high expectations regarding the availability of digital services make online monitoring of the optical fiber as a transmission medium more and more of a necessity. What has become a matter of course in wide-area networks is increasingly gaining importance in smaller networks, such as city and enterprise networks, public facilities, and data centers. The early detection of a malfunctioning fiber makes it possible to react quickly to avoid any damage. It reduces the time that passes from the occurrence of an interruption to its removal by a matter of several hours to days. Even attempted wiretapping can be detected and reported.
The SmartOTU from JDSU was recently made available as an upgradeable starter system. The 19” insert is only two height units tall and does not require an extra PC. The entire control system is already integrated. In the case of an incident, notification will be sent either via e-mail or SMS, and further control of the system can be carried out via a web browser or SNMP interface.
It is possible to monitor either a single fiber or – using various integrated optical switches – up to 48 fibers. The wavelength may be selected as desired but typically the system operates with 1625 nm or 1650 nm because these wavelengths do not disturb existing operation.
This modular design can be easily and flexibly adjusted to meet future demands in case the expansion of monitoring is desired at a later point.
