NEW CODE FOR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK FAULT FINDING USING A SPREAD-SPECTRUM APPROACH

This paper reports on the development of a new digital sequence allowi ng the use of a semiconductor laser amplifier (SLA) to execute signal correlation in the optical domain. The new sequence permits multiple r eflections from components of a fibre optic communications network to be detected with zero crosstalk. This digital spread spectrum approach is demonstrated experimentally in a simple passive fibre optic networ k where Fresnel reflections from the fibre ends are detected.