Can your fiber plant carry GigE, 2.5G or 10G traffic?
Can your fiber plant support DWDM or CWDM systems?
Can EDFAs be used to extend your fiber spans?

Our Fiber Characterization service reports can answer these questions and more about your fiber plant and provide you with a full optical fiber performance assessment.  We verify the integrity and capacity of your fiber plant by our measurements of fiber properties such as optical loss, chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion and fiber reflections.  We BER test your dark or lit fiber spans at transmission rates you require to confirm data rate performance.

The Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) is used to obtain a visual representation of an optical fiber’s attenuation characteristics along its length.  Data results include fiber attenuation, fiber loss, splice loss, splice location, connector loss, connector location, fiber length, bad fiber bend locations and other fiber anomaly locations which are graphically represented and charted in our report.  This report is useful for identifying bad fiber splices, bad connections, tight fiber bends, fiber out of spec, high fiber loss, and other fiber anomalies.  Used in new fiber plant acquisitions or sale, fiber quality assessments for activation, fiber deterioration, and fiber damage reports.

Chromatic Dispersion (CD) Report

Chromatic dispersion (CD) limits the maximum transmission rate and distance capability of the fiber.  If you are planning to increase your transmission rate to 1 Gbps or higher, this report is suggested. Used to verify fiber's ability to carry traffic at rates of 1 Gbps or higher such as for OC-48, OC-192,  STM-16, STM-64, GigE, and 10GigE equipment.

 Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) Report

Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) affects transmission rates at 10 Gbps or higher.  This report is suggested for fibers connecting to 10 Gbps or higher systems.  Used to verify fiber's ability to carry traffic at 10 Gbps or higher such as for OC-192, STM-64, and 10GigE equipment.

 Optical Return Loss (ORL) Report

 Optical Power Meter Report

Optical power meter loss measurements provide accurate fiber span loss results at tested wavelengths.  Span loss measurements can be performed at specific wavelengths such as 1310 and 1550 nm or wavelength ranges such as from 1270 to 1620 nm.  This optical loss data over a wavelength range is needed for optical budget designs for DWDM and CWDM spans.

 Optical Spectrum Analysis (OSA) Report

Optical Spectrum Analysis (OSA) reports provide a graphical representation of all wavelengths in a fiber.  This report is suggested for proper performance tuning and balancing of DWDM systems.