IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,540,877
Granted Patent B2
US 12,540,877 · App. 18/707,958 · Granted Feb 3, 2026

Optical transmission line test equipment and test method

Inventors: Atsushi Nakamura (Musashino, JP); Tomokazu Oda (Musashino, JP); Yusuke Koshikiya (Musashino, JP)
Assignee: NTT, Inc.
G01M11/3136G01M11/3127G01M11/3145
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,540,877
App. No.
18/707,958
Granted
Feb 3, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical transmission line test apparatus and a test method capable of measuring a cumulative crosstalk of an optical transmission line in which a plurality of uncoupled multi-core fibers are connected in series from one end side with an OTDR. An optical transmission line test apparatus 301 according to the present invention measures a cumulative crosstalk of an optical transmission line 50 in which a plurality of uncoupled multi-core fibers 50 - i are connected in series. The optical transmission line test apparatus 301 includes a test light input unit 10 that inputs optical pulses to each of cores of the uncoupled multi-core fiber 50 - 1 at one end 50 a of the optical transmission line 50 ; a reception unit 20 that receives backscattered light for each of the cores output from one end 50 a ; and a calculation unit 30 that acquires a loss distribution occurring in each of the cores from the backscattered light, and calculates the cumulative crosstalk from a connection loss at a connection point zj of the uncoupled multi-core fiber obtained from the loss distribution and a known inter-core mode coupling of each of the uncoupled multi-core fibers 50 - i.

Claims (18)

1 . An optical transmission line test apparatus for measuring a cumulative crosstalk of an optical transmission line in which a plurality of uncoupled multi-core fibers are connected in series, the optical transmission line test apparatus comprising:

a test light input unit configured to input an optical pulse to each of the cores of the uncoupled multi-core fiber from one end of the optical transmission line;

a reception unit configured to receive backscattered light for each of the cores at one end of the optical transmission line; and

a calculation unit configured to acquire a loss distribution occurring in each of the cores from the backscattered light of each of the cores, and calculate the cumulative crosstalk from a connection loss at a connection point of the uncoupled multi-core fiber obtained from the loss distribution and a known inter-core mode coupling of each of the uncoupled multi-core fibers.

2 . The optical transmission line test apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the calculation unit is configured to:

cause light input to one core at one end of the optical transmission line to propagate through the optical transmission line, and use a ratio of light intensities output from the one core and the other core at the other end of the optical transmission line as the cumulative crosstalk; and

calculate the ratio of the light intensities by using a product of a connection point matrix representing the connection loss of the one core and the other core at each connection point and a fiber section matrix representing the inter-core mode coupling of each of the uncoupled multi-core fibers.

3 . The optical transmission line test apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the calculation unit is configured to calculate the cumulative crosstalk for each wavelength of the optical pulse.

4 . A test method for measuring a cumulative crosstalk of an optical transmission line,

the optical transmission line being formed by connecting a plurality of uncoupled multi-core fibers in series, the test method comprising:

inputting an optical pulse to each of cores of the uncoupled multi-core fiber from one end of the optical transmission line;

receiving backscattered light for each of the cores at one end of the optical transmission line;

acquiring a loss distribution occurring in each of the cores from the backscattered light of each of the cores; and

calculating the cumulative crosstalk from a connection loss at a connection point of the uncoupled multi-core fiber obtained from the loss distribution and a known inter-core mode coupling of each of the uncoupled multi-core fibers.

5 . The test method according to claim 4 , further comprising:

causing light input to one core at one end of the optical transmission line to propagate through the optical transmission line, and using a ratio of light intensities output from the one core and the other core at the other end of the optical transmission line as the cumulative crosstalk; and

calculating the ratio of the light intensities by using a product of a connection point matrix representing the connection loss of the one core and the other core at each connection point and a fiber section matrix representing the inter-core mode coupling of each of the uncoupled multi-core fibers.

6 . The test method according to claim 4 , further comprising: calculating the cumulative crosstalk for each wavelength of the optical pulse.

Assignments (2)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Oct 3, 2025
From: NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION
To: NTT, INC.
Reel/Frame 073005/0114 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 7, 2024
From: NAKAMURA, ATSUSHI; ODA, TOMOKAZU; KOSHIKIYA, YUSUKE
To: NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 067332/0857 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240426703A1 · Dec 26, 2024
References Cited (7)
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JP 2012202827A · 2012 [cited by examiner]
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Yoshida, Makoto et al. “Mode Coupling Measurement at Few-Mode Fiber Connections Using Multi-Channel OTDR”. Proceedings of the 2016 IEICE General Conference with machine generated English translation thereof. (2016). [cited by applicant]
M. Nakazawa et al., “Nondestructive measurement of mode couplings along a multi-core fiber using a synchronous multi-channel OTDR,” Optics Express, vol. 20, No. 11, pp. 12530-12540, 2012. [cited by applicant]
M. Ohashi et al., “Simple backscattered power technique for measuring crosstalk of multi-core fibers,” in Proc. 7th Opto-Electronics and Communications Conference, p. 1_25, 2012. [cited by applicant]