OZC Micro-OTDR SFP Supports Argus Hand Held Tester

Home / OZC Micro-OTDR SFP Supports Argus Hand Held Tester

Overview:

Argus (Intec) designs and manufactures a high-performance portable network tester product line, which can include a full feature OTDR (Optical Time Domain Reflectometer). But not all Fiber Techs in the field need a full feature OTDR. So, Argus was looking for a more cost-effective way to implement an optical fiber fault detector into their hand-held tester. The Micro-OTDR SFP from OZC fills this need, and has been integrated into the 100, 200 and 300 series testers by Argus.

“In real life the OFF (Optical Fault Finder) is a standard SFP transceiver for data communication. Ok, a quite special one, since working on ONE fiber using ONE single wavelength, but we also could use it in our tester as a standard transceiver with DDM support….”
– Ralf-Dieter Heil, International Sales Manager, Argus
(intec Gesellschaft für Informationstechnik mbH)

Challenges:

  • Cost – low enough to make practical for a hand-held tester.
  • Size – small enough to fit into a portable hand-held tester.
  • Performance – able to operate in typical telecom network environments.

Solution:

Unlike full feature OTDRs, Micro-OTDR SFPs are designed to be compatible with high unit volume applications, with a cost structure more like components (small data transport SFP transceivers) than larger, complicated full feature OTDR equipment.  Native applications in telecommunications access network gear, and DWDM optical supervisory channels, consume large quantities of SFP transceivers, requiring that they be low-cost in design.

The SFP configuration is an “industry standard” design, documented in a Multiple Source Agreement (MSA), developed by some of the largest “players” in the communications industry. Since SFP cages (or slots) are so widely used, their cost is low, while their small size allows them to be integrated into even the smallest hand-held portable network test equipment.

While the Micro-OTDR only detects reflective events (whereas a full feature OTDR also measures optical power and Rayleigh backscatter), it is instantaneous in operation, and can fulfill the role of a Fast Fiber Fault Finder™ in the Argus hand-held field network testers, making the Argus portable network testers the first complete fiber optic network testers in the market.

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Contact :

Michael J. Hartmann
VP of Business Development – Digital Products
(D) 818-579-9592 (M) 302-650-9795
(F) 818-780-9739 (S) mjhartmann
[email protected]