ENHANCED RANGE FOR OTDR-LIKE DISPERSION MAP MEASUREMENTS

We report on enhancement of the range, reliability, and accuracy of op tical-time-domain-reflection- (OTDR-) like measurement of an optical f iber's dispersion map, D(z), through the combined use of Raman gain, a n appropriate seed at the four-wave mixing frequency, and a greatly im proved algorithm for reduction of the data. In particular, in measurem ents made from only one end of the fiber, we have demonstrated a range of 75 km in dispersion-shifted fiber and of 22.5 km in high-loss disp ersion-compensating fiber. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.