Optical fiber-fault surveillance for passive optical networks in S-band operation window

An S-band ( 1470 to 1520 nm) fiber laser scheme, which uses multiple fiber Bragg grating (FBG) elements as feedback elements on each passive branch, is proposed and described for in-service fault identification in passive optical networks (PONs). By tuning a wavelength selective filter located within the laser cavity over a gain bandwidth, the fiber-fault of each branch can be monitored without affecting the in-service channels. In our experiment, an S-band four-branch monitoring tree-structured PON system is demonstrated and investigated experimentally. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.