FTB-5600 - Distributed PMD analyzer

The only distributed PMD analyzer on the market, offering simplified PMD assessment for identification of faulty sections on links.

Key features

Locates fiber sections that are large contributors to the total PMD of a link
Makes it possible to isolate and repair only the worst PMD sections of the fiber cable
Allows cost-effective upgrade of a fiber network otherwise limited in speed by PMD
Helps identify small changes to boost entire network performance

Applications

Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) assessment for upgrading networks to high-speed transmission (10, 40 and 100 Gbit/s)

Awards and reviews

Innovation and leadership have always been front and center at EXFO. Each year, we strive to develop solutions that will ensure superior customer experience in smarter, modern networks. Being recognized as such is always a great honor. Learn more about our awards:

Description

Optimizing installed fiber infrastructure

With the prohibitive cost of installing new fiber, service providers often prefer to use installed fiber rather than build new infrastructure. Sometimes, older fibers might have been deemed unusable because of poor performance, in particular due to PMD. In other cases, a lower data rate might have been chosen (e.g. 2.5G) because a fiber with high PMD was considered unsuitable for fast data rates (e.g. 10G). That was before distributed PMD analysis. This innovative PMD measurement method enables service providers to leverage the installed fiber infrastructure to its full potential.

Since traditional PMD measurement techniques only provide a total end-to-end value compared against Pass/Fail thresholds, it used to be impossible to determine what caused a link to “fail” its PMD test, i.e., the whole link, or only localized sections. The distributed PMD analysis approach was developed to avoid such grey areas, and to help network operators tackle the PMD assessment challenge.

Measuring PMD as a function of the distance

EXFO’s FTB-5600 is the very first quantitative distributed PMD analyzer on the market. The technological breakthrough on which it is based provides operators with a cost-effective, time-efficient alternative to costly network upgrades. By breaking down the PMD measurement results, distributed PMD analysis pinpoints high-PMD sections and accurately qualifies them.