Analysis of loss levels in a single mode fiber optic cable for some fiber plants in Northern Nigeria

Increasing demand for transmission capacity due to digital revolution is causing an increasing demand for optical fiber systems. However, as bit-error-rate (BER) increases the fiber optic cable signal quality becomes degraded, causing signal delays, jitters, poor quality of service, packet loss, link outage, etc. In this study, the analysis of loss levels in a single mode fiber optic cable was carried out using the optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR), network monitoring system (NMS) and CACTI (V 1.1.38). Various OTDR traces were carried out to determine the loss levels in the fiber cores. Similarly, using the NMS, the actual link losses were calculated and compared with the loss budget to derive the link loss margin of the links; with a benchmark loss margin of 5 dB, high and low loss levels were determined. Lastly, bandwidth utilization was carried out using network graphical solution software (CACTI, V 1.1.38). The results show that, from the OTDR traces, 60% of the tested fiber cores had high losses at the spliced joints, whereas the analysis of the NMS shows 41.7% high losses. The bandwidth utilization analysis shows a reduction in fiber link availability by 8.3%. This work has revealed the different loss levels in the tested fiber cores with high loses leading to increase in BER which negatively impacts the optimum usability of a link. Therefore, maintaining a low and within-budget loss level is very essential for efficient signal transmission and optimization of the fiber optic cable for both manufacturers and the end users.