Monitoring of the transparent fibre infrastructure for FTTx networks: An operator's view

In the access network area the optical fibre step by step substitutes the existing copper cable infrastructure in order to enable new services requiring a steadily increasing bandwidth. The optical fibre is capable to transmit significantly higher data rates over longer distances than the copper links. In the next years new architectures like Fibre-to-the-Building and Fibre-to-the-Home will be implemented in the access networks. These fibre links require a monitoring of the infrastructure by the network operator in order the guarantee a high quality of service. The monitoring is necessary during the fibre installation with final test, regular operation of the network and for fault location. The possibilities and particularities of fibre monitoring in transparent optical access networks in comparison to the core network are described. Considering the operational conditions the preferred and suitable solutions from a view point of a network operator are shown and described in detail.