Fault localization using dual pulse widths for PON monitoring system

We propose a novel method using dual pulse widths to locate the fiber break, which can share the pulse detecting source with the previous proposed passive optical network (PON) monitoring systems. The rectangular detecting pulses with two different pulse widths are sequentially injected into the faulty fiber link to generate corresponding parameters for the established model equations. We also investigate the corresponding variables (i.e., different combinations of dual pulse widths, pulse repetition frequency and accuracy of the power meter) that may affect the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the fiber breakpoint can be located with little error. The simple and low-cost method provides a fault localization functionality for the PON monitoring systems.