An understanding of the principles of optical fibre transmission and the causes and effects of optical loss. It is recommended that the e-learning course OptLink course A: "Optical fibre principles" is studied before attempting this course.

After completing this course a trainee will be able to describe the components of a passive optical access network, describe the processes involved in terminating optical fibre cables and carry out and interpret basic test measurements on an optical fibre.

At the end of this course, the trainee will be able to:

Explain how an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) measures the loss of a fibre system and measures and locates fibre joints and connections.

Explain the concepts of deadzone and resolution as relating to the characteristics of OTDRs.

Describe the facilities of modern OTDRs and interpret the results of OTDR tests.

Describe and demonstrate the purpose and operation of the various tools used in preparing fibres and cables for jointing.

Explain how a fusion splice is produced between two fibres using typical fusion splicing equipment and discuss the effects of incorrect arc currentland incorrectly prepared fibre.

Explain the purpose of the fibre protection layers used in optical cables and describe the structure and functional components of typical internal andjexternal optical cables.

Describe the physical structure and function of the various components of a terrestrial cable system including primary and secondary flexibilityjlpoints, distribution shelves and termination points.

Number of chapters: 10 Study time: 8 hours