Fiber-optic transceiver with an optical circulator for optical time-domain reflectometers

The paper describes the characterization of an improved fiber-optic transceiver for optical time-domain reflectometers (OTDR). The transceiver employs an active fiber ring which has both transmitter and receiver functions of OTDR. An optical circulator takes the place of the combination of a 3-dB coupler and an optical isolator in the previously reported system. Reflections from several lengths of cascaded fibers are measured to characterize the transceiver. Compared with the previous system, performance improvement of the transceiver with the optical circulator is achieved.