Laboratory measurements Optimum fusion parameters

Two methods employed Abstract Two methods employed during fusion splicing as well as two methods for calculating the average splice loss per fiber-span are presented. The two splicing methods described are the telemetry and optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) methods. The cut-back and OTDR measuring methods for calculating the average splice loss per fiber-span are also described. A statistical model relating the various measuring uncertainties with the sample size uncertainties is used to predict the population parameters from the sample statistics. Laboratory results are also included to analyze the important parameters needed for splice optimization. The accuracy of splice loss measurements obtained using OTDRs is studied in the laboratory and is used to analyze field data. Our results show that there is no significant difference in the quality of the telemetry splicing method as compared to the OTDR splicing method. In addition, the average splice loss per fiber-span calculated from cut-back measurements was found to yield a distribution that is only 80% as accurate as the one derived from the OTDR measurements.