Method of detecting and characterizing anomalies in a propagative medium

Claim 2

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 1 wherein the detecting step further comprises the step of determining a minimum number of required samples for each data point as a function of maintaining a minimum signal to noise ratio for detecting the anomaly at a minimum threshold value.

Claim 3

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 2 wherein the detecting step further comprises the step of acquiring a minimum number of data points for detecting the presence of an anomaly as a function of the dimensional extent of the anomaly.

Claim 4

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 3 wherein the detecting step further comprises the step of determining the presence of an anomaly as a function of comparing the return signal level in the acquired data to a predicted value.

Claim 5

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 2 wherein the detecting step comprises the steps of: (a) establishing a minimum threshold value for anomaly detection; (b) determining the number of samples required for each data point of the acquired data to maintain a minimum signal to noise ratio for detecting the anomaly at the threshold value; and (c) acquiring and averaging the samples for the data point.

Claim 6

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 4 further comprising the steps of: (a) acquiring a minimum number of data points for detecting the presence of an anomaly over an interval defined the data points; and (b) establishing additional intervals by acquiring additional data points, each additional interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval, the establishing of additional intervals continuing until an anomaly is detected.

Claim 7

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 6 further comprising the step of acquiring additional intervals while preselected conditions are met.

Claim 8

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 6 further comprising the steps of: (a) comparing the return signal level loss over each interval to a predicted return signal level loss for the interval to detect the presence and type of anomaly; (b) re-examining the interval based on the type of anomaly detected; and (c) storing the characteristics of the detected anomaly.

Claim 9

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 8 wherein the anomaly type is indicative of a reflectionless loss and an approximate location and a region of uncertainty is known for the anomaly, the steps comprising: (a) acquiring data points over a sample region that includes the region of uncertainty using a minimum of sample averages for each data point to establish a minimum signal to noise ratio for a preselected threshold value; (b) determining the characteristics of the anomaly within the sample region; (c) acquiring additional data points over the sample region to reduce the region of uncertainty as a function of averaging the acquired data points to increase the signal to noise ratio, the reduction in the region of uncertainty reducing the sample region; and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) while preselected conditions are met.

Claim 10

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 9 wherein the determining step further comprises the steps of: (a) determining whether a reflective anomaly exists in the sample region; (b) calculating a rate of loss for each data point over a pulse width when a reflective anomaly is not found in the region; (c) calculating a curve function for the rate of loss values for each data point versus their location; and (d) determining a maximum for the curve function, the location of the curve function maximum being the location of the anomaly.

Claim 11

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 10 comprising the additional steps of: (a) determining the signal level loss of the anomaly; (b) comparing the signal level loss of the anomaly to the preselected threshold value; and (c) updating the region of uncertainty as a function of the anomaly loss being greater than the preselected threshold value.

Claim 12

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 11 wherein the region of uncertainty is inversely related to the signal level loss.

Claim 13

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 10 further comprising the steps of: (a) determining whether the location of the anomaly is within the region of uncertainty of the anomaly; and (b) terminating the examination of the sampling region when the location of the anomaly falls outside the region of uncertainty.

Claim 14

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 11 further comprising the step of terminating the examination of the sampling region when the anomaly loss is less than the preselected threshold value.

Claim 15

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 10 wherein step (a) further comprised the steps of: (a) determining the characteristics of the reflective anomaly; and (b) terminating the examination of the sampling region.

Claim 16

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 8 wherein the anomaly type is indicative of a reflection having a leading edge and the interval containing the anomaly is defined by a first data point and a second data point, each having a value and an uncertainty associated with each value, the steps comprising: (a) storing minimum and maximum values and the uncertainties associated with the minimum and maximum values for the first and second data points; (b) subdividing the interval into two regions by acquiring a bisecting data point within the interval having a value and an uncertainty associated with the value; (c) comparing the bisecting data point value and its uncertainty to the first data point value and its uncertainty, and setting the bisecting data point as the first data point if the value and uncertainty of the bisecting data point is less than the first data point, and setting the bisecting data point as the second data point if the value and uncertainty of the bisecting point is greater than the first data point, the bisecting data point and the remaining data point defining the interval; (d) repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) while preselected conditions are met to establish a location for the leading edge of the reflection; and (e) terminating the examination if the difference between the minimum and maximum value of the first and second data points is less than the sum of the uncertainties of the minimum and maximum values of the first and second data points.

Claim 17

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 16 wherein the energy pulses have a known pulsewidth, the further steps comprising: (a) acquiring data points over the pulse width representative of the signal level at locations in the medium, the first data point being acquired one pulsewidth after the leading edge of the reflection; (b) determining a rate of loss for the acquired data points over a pulsewidth of data points; (c) comparing the rate of loss to a preselected value; (d) acquiring an additional data point when the rate of loss does not fall within the preselected value; (e) repeating steps (b), (c) and (d) until the rate of loss falls within the preselected value; (f) establishing the last acquired data point as the end of the reflection; and (g) determining a net loss for the reflection from the location of the minimum value of the first point to the last acquired data point.

Claim 18

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 16 further comprising the step of determining the presence of additional reflections within the reflective anomaly.

Claim 19

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 4 wherein the detecting step further comprises the steps of: (a) acquiring a first data point from the return signal level; (b) calculating a predicted signal level for a second data point from the return signal level; (c) acquiring the second data point from the return signal level and comparing the predicted signal level to the acquired signal level to determine the presence of an anomaly over an interval defined by the acquired data points; (d) predicting the return signal level for additional data points from the return signal level; (e) acquiring the additional data points from the return signal level and comparing the predicted signal level to the acquired signal level to determine the presence of an anomaly over the interval defined by the acquired data points, each interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval; and (f) repeating steps (d) and (e) until an anomaly is detected.

Claim 20

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 19 further comprising the steps of: (a) re-examining the interval based on the type of anomaly detected; and (b) storing the characteristics of the detected anomaly.

Claim 21

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 20 further comprising the step of; (a) predicting the return signal level for additional data points from the return signal level; (b) acquiring the additional data points from the return signal level and comparing the predicted signal level to the acquired signal level to determine the presence of an anomaly over the intervals defined by the acquired data points, each interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) while preselected conditions are met.

Claim 22

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 4 wherein the detecting step further comprises the steps of: (a) acquiring a first data point from the return signal level; (b) calculating a predicted signal level for a second data point from the return signal level; (c) acquiring the second data point from the return signal level and comparing the predicted signal level to the acquired signal level to determine the presence of an anomaly over an interval defined by the acquired data points; (d) subdividing the interval into two regions when an anomaly is detected by acquiring a data point within the interval and comparing the signal level loss over each of the regions to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the regions; (e) subdividing the region containing the anomaly into two regions by acquiring a data point within the region and comparing the signal level loss over each of the subdivided regions to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the subdivided regions; (f) repeating step (e) decreasing the subdivided region containing the anomaly while preselected conditions are met; (g) re-examining the subdivided region containing the anomaly to determine the characteristics of the detected anomaly; and (h) storing the characteristics of the detected anomaly.

Claim 23

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 22 wherein the subdividing step (d) further comprises the step of acquiring first and second data points within the interval and comparing the signal level loss over a first region defined by the first interval data point to the second data point within the interval and the signal level loss over a second region defined by the first data point within the interval to the second interval data point to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the regions.

Claim 24

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 22 wherein the subdividing step (e) further comprises the step of acquiring first and second data points within the region containing the anomaly, the region being subdivided into a first subdivided region defined by the first region data point and the second data point within the region containing the anomaly, and a second subdivided region defined by the first data point within the region containing the anomaly and the second region data point, the signal level loss over the subdivided regions being compared to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the subdivided regions.

Claim 25

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 22 wherein the detecting step further comprises the step of; (a) predicting the return signal level for additional data points from the return signal level; (b) acquiring the additional data points from the return signal level and comparing the predicted signal level to the acquired signal level to determine the presence of an anomaly over the intervals defined by the acquired data points, each interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) until an end of signal or end of cable is detected.

Claim 26

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 4 wherein the detecting step further comprises the steps of: (a) acquiring a minimum number of data points for detecting the presence of an anomaly over an interval defined by the data points; (b) comparing the signal level loss over the interval to a preselected value to detect the presence of an anomaly; (c) subdividing the interval into two regions when an anomaly is detected by acquiring a data point within the interval and comparing the signal level loss over each of the regions to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the regions; (d) subdividing the region containing the anomaly into two regions by acquiring a data point within the region and comparing the signal level loss over each of the subdivided regions to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the subdivided regions; (e) repeating step (d) decreasing the subdivided region containing the anomaly while preselected conditions are met; (f) re-examining the subdivided region containing the anomaly to determine the characteristics of the detected anomaly; and (g) storing the characteristics of the detected anomaly.

Claim 27

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 26 wherein the subdividing step (c) further comprises the step of acquiring first and second data points within the interval and comparing the signal level loss over a first region defined by the first interval data point to the second data point within the interval and the signal level loss over a second region defined by the first data point within the interval to the second interval data point to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the regions.

Claim 28

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 26 wherein the subdividing step (d) further comprises the step of acquiring first and second data points within the region containing the anomaly, the region being subdivided into a first subdivided region defined by the first region data point and the second data point within the region containing the anomaly, and a second subdivided region defined by the first data point within the region containing the anomaly and the second region data point, the signal level loss over the subdivided regions being compared to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the subdivided regions.

Claim 29

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 26 wherein the detecting step further comprises the step of acquiring additional data points for incrementing the interval until an end of signal or end of cable is detected, each additional interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval.

Claim 30

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 1 wherein the detecting step further comprises the steps of: (a) acquiring a waveform of data wherein each data point of the data represents the return signal level at a particular location in the medium; (b) storing the acquired data in a memory; and (c) examining the stored data for the presence of an anomaly.

Claim 31

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 30 wherein the examining step further comprises the step of determining the presence of an anomaly as a function of comparing the return signal level in the acquired data to a predicted value.

Claim 32

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 31 wherein the determining step further comprises the steps of: (a) calculating a predicted signal level for a second stored data point from a first stored data point of the return signal level; (b) comparing the predicted signal level for the second stored data point to the second stored data point to determine the presence of an anomaly over an interval defined by the data points; (c) predicting the return signal level for additional stored data points; (d) comparing the predicted signal level for the additional stored data points to the stored data points to determine the presence of an anomaly over the intervals defined by the data points, each additional interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval; and (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) until an anomaly is detected. (f) re-examining the interval based on the type of anomaly detected; and (g) storing the characteristics of the detected anomaly.

Claim 33

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 32 further comprising the steps of: (a) predicting the return signal level for additional stored data points; (b) comparing the predicted signal level for the additional stored data points to the stored data points to determine the presence of an anomaly over the intervals defined by the data points, each additional interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) while preselected conditions are met.

Claim 34

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 31 wherein the determining step further comprises the steps of: (a) calculating a signal level loss for an interval from a first stored data point to a second stored data point; (b) comparing the calculated signal level loss for the interval to a predicted signal level loss for the interval to determine the presence of an anomaly; (c) calculating the signal level loss for additional intervals defined by the stored data points; (d) comparing the calculated signal level loss for the additional intervals to predicted signal level losses for the intervals to determine the presence of an anomaly, each additional interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval; (e) repeating steps (c) and (d) until an anomaly is detected; (f) re-examining the interval based on the type of anomaly detected; and (g) storing the characteristics of the detected anomaly.

Claim 35

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 34 further comprising the steps of: (a) calculating the signal level loss for additional intervals defined by the stored data points; (b) comparing the calculated signal level loss for the additional intervals to predicted signal level losses for the intervals to determine the presence of an anomaly, each additional interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) while preselected conditions are met.

Claim 37

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 36 wherein the determining step further comprises the steps of: (a) determining whether a reflective anomaly exists in sample region; (b) calculating a rate of loss for each data point over a pulse width when a reflective anomaly is not found in the area; (c) calculating a curve function for the rate of loss values for each data point versus their location; and (d) determining a maximum for the curve function, the location of the curve function maximum being the location of the anomaly.

Claim 38

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 37 comprising the additional steps of: (a) determining the signal level loss of the anomaly; (b) comparing the signal level loss of the anomaly to the preselected threshold value; and (c) updating the region of uncertainty as a function of the anomaly loss being greater than the preselected threshold value.

Claim 39

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 37 wherein the region of uncertainty is inversely related to the signal level loss.

Claim 40

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 37 further comprising the steps of: (a) determining whether the location of the anomaly is within the region of uncertainty of the anomaly; and (b) terminating the examination of the sampling region when the location of the anomaly falls outside the region of uncertainty.

Claim 41

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 38 further comprising the step of terminating the examination of the sampling region when the anomaly loss is less than the preselected threshold value.

Claim 42

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 37 wherein step (a) further comprised the steps of: (a) determining the characteristics of the reflective anomaly; and (b) terminating the examination of the sampling region.

Claim 44

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 43 wherein the energy pulses have a known pulsewidth, the further steps comprising: (a) acquiring data points over the pulse width representative of the signal level at locations in the medium, the first data point being acquired one pulsewidth after the leading edge of the reflection; (b) determining a rate of loss for the acquired data points over a pulsewidth of data points; (c) comparing the rate of loss to a preselected value; (d) acquiring an additional data point when the rate of loss does not fall with the preselected value; (e) repeating steps (b), (c) and (d) until the rate of loss falls within the preselected value; (f) establishing the last acquired data point as the end of the reflection; and (g) determining a net loss for the reflection from the location of the minimum value of the first point to the last acquired data point.

Claim 45

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 43 further comprising the step of determining the presence of additional reflections within the reflective anomaly.

Claim 47

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 46 wherein the subdividing step (c) further comprises the step of acquiring first and second data points within the interval and comparing the signal level loss over a first region defined by the first interval data point to the second data point within the interval and the signal level loss over a second region defined by the first data point within the interval to the second interval data point to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the regions.

Claim 48

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 46 wherein the subdividing step (d) further comprises the step of acquiring first and second data points within the region containing the anomaly, the region being subdivided into a first subdivided region defined by the first region data point and the second data point within the region containing the anomaly, and a second subdivided region defined by the first data point within the region containing the anomaly and the second region data point, the signal level loss over the subdivided regions being compared to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the subdivided regions.

Claim 49

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 46 wherein the detecting step further comprises the step of acquiring additional data points for incrementing the interval until an end of signal or end of cable is detected, each additional interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval.

Claim 51

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 50 wherein the subdividing step (d) further comprises the step of acquiring first and second data points within the interval and comparing the signal level loss over a first region defined by the first interval data point to the second data point within the interval and the signal level loss over a second region defined by the first data point within the interval to the second interval data point to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the regions.

Claim 52

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 50 wherein the subdividing step (e) further comprises the step of acquiring first and second data points within the region containing the anomaly, the region being subdivided into a first subdivided region defined by the first region data point and the second data point within the region containing the anomaly, and a second subdivided region defined by the first data point within the region containing the anomaly and the second region data point, the signal level loss over the subdivided regions being compared to a preselected value to detect the presence of the anomaly within the subdivided regions.

Claim 53

The method of examining a propagative medium as recited in claim 50 wherein the detecting step further comprises the step of (a) predicting the return signal level for additional data points from the return signal level; (b) acquiring the additional data points from the return signal level and comparing the predicted signal level to the acquired signal level to determine the presence of an anomaly over the intervals defined by the acquired data points, each additional interval overlapping a portion of an adjacent interval; and (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) until an end of signal or end of cable is detected.

Claim 55

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 54 wherein the anomaly type is indicative of a reflectionless loss and an approximate location and a region of uncertainty is known for the anomaly, the steps comprising: (a) acquiring data points over a sample region that includes the region of uncertainty using a minimum of sample averages for each data point to establish a minimum signal to noise ratio for a preselected threshold value; (b) determining the characteristics of the anomaly within the sample region; (c) acquiring additional data points over the sample region to reduce the region of uncertainty as a function of averaging the acquired data points to increase the signal to noise ratio, the reduction in the region of uncertainty reducing the sample region; and (d) repeating steps (b) and (c) while preselected conditions are met.

Claim 56

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 55 wherein the determining step further comprises the steps of: (a) determining whether a reflective anomaly exists in the sample region; (b) calculating a rate of loss for each data point over a pulse width when a reflective anomaly is not found in the region; (c) calculating a curve function for the rate of loss values for each data point versus their location; and (d) determining a maximum for the curve function, the location of the curve function maximum being the location of the anomaly.

Claim 57

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 56 comprising the additional steps of: (a) determining the signal level loss of the anomaly; (b) comparing the signal level loss of the anomaly to the preselected threshold value; and (c) updating the region of uncertainty as a function of the anomaly loss being greater than the preselected threshold value.

Claim 58

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 57 wherein the region of uncertainty is inversely related to the signal level loss.

Claim 59

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 56 further comprising the steps of: (a) determining whether the location of the anomaly is within the region of uncertainty of the anomaly; and (b) terminating the examination of the sampling region when the location of the anomaly falls outside the region of uncertainty.

Claim 60

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 57 further comprising the step of terminating the examination of the sampling region when the anomaly loss is less than the preselected threshold value.

Claim 61

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 56 wherein step (a) further comprised the steps of: (a) determining the characteristics of the reflective anomaly; and (b) terminating the examination of the sampling region.

Claim 62

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 54 wherein the anomaly type is indicative of a reflection having a leading edge and the interval containing the anomaly is defined by a first data point and a second data point, each having a value and an uncertainty associated with each value, the steps comprising: (a) storing minimum and maximum values and the uncertainties associated with the minimum and maximum values for the first and second data points; (b) subdividing the interval into two regions by acquiring a bisecting data point within the interval having a value and an uncertainty associated with the value; (c) comparing the bisecting data point value and its uncertainty to the first data point value and its uncertainty, and setting the bisecting data point as the first data point if the value and uncertainty of the bisecting data point is less than the first data point, and setting the bisecting data point as the second data point if the value and uncertainty of the bisecting point is greater than the first data point, the bisecting data point and the remaining data point defining the interval; (d) repeating steps (a), (b) and (c) while preselected conditions are met to establish a location for the leading edge of the reflection; (e) terminating the examination if the difference between the minimum and maximum value of the first and second data points is less than the sum of the uncertainties of the minimum and maximum values of the first and second data points; and (f) storing the characteristics of the reflection anomaly.

Claim 63

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 62 wherein the energy pulses have a known pulsewidth, the further steps comprising: (a) acquiring data points over the pulse width representative of the signal level at locations in the medium, the first data point being acquired one pulsewidth after the leading edge of the reflection; (b) determining a rate of loss for the acquired data points over a pulsewidth of data points; (c) comparing the rate of loss to a preselected value; (d) acquiring an additional data point when the rate of loss does not fall with the preselected value; (e) repeating steps (b), (c) and (d) until the rate of loss falls within the preselected value; (f) establishing the last acquired data point as the end of the reflection; and (g) determining a net loss for the reflection from the location of the minimum value of the first point to the last acquired data point.

Claim 64

The method of examining an optical fiber transmission cable as recited in claim 62 further comprising the step of determining the presence of additional reflections within the reflective anomaly.