|
| |  | |
Principal Sponsors:
 | Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) Testing |
10. Conclusion
Any telecommunications service provider who operates or installs DWDM systems must meet testing requirements well beyond those needed for older-generation equipment and must be prepared to perform sophisticated testing in the field on existing lines and equipment. In particular, the spectral dimension, once of interest only to development laboratories, must now be considered throughout the life cycle of a network, from planning to installation to routine maintenance.
These new requirements will inevitably lead to the development of new field test instruments tailored for use in DWDM systems. The core of this new instrumentation suite—the reference test instrument—is likely to be the optical spectrum analyzer because of its ability to perform most of the measurements needed for system characterization, maintenance, and troubleshooting.
The mini optical time domain reflectometer, or mini–OTDR, which brought sophisticated time domain reflectometry capabilities to field maintainers of fiber-optic systems, was developed over several years with very close, continual attention to the real needs of field users. The development of a field-ready mini–OSA should follow a similar path.
|
