Continuous-wave backreflection measurement of polarization mode dispersion

Experimental results of continuous-wave polarization mode dispersion (PMD) measurements are presented. The proposed technique is based on the backscat tered signal given by the Fresnel reflection at the fiber far-end. Experime ntal statistical distribution of the differential group delay of the round- trip is reported, It presents a Rayleigh distribution whose mean value is s imply related to the fiber mean differential group delay. Finally, the stat istical distribution of the round-trip dispersion vector is found experimen tally and numerically. The proposed method can be easily used for one-end m easurement of PMD in installed optical cables.