STANDARD REFERENCE FIBERS FOR CALIBRATION OF THE OPTICAL-TIME DOMAIN REFLECTOMETER

Calibration of optical time domain reflectometers by military and industrial users can be achieved by a number of published test procedures. For some performance parameters, a particularly convenient method for establishing measurement verification and traceability to national standards is through the use of a standard reference fiber. NIST has begun a program to evaluate such test lightguides. Prototype standard reference fibers have been characterized for spectral attenuation, group delay, group index, and length. This paper describes measurement methods and tolerances for these devices. © 1990.