Computer Hardware Terms, Glossary and Dictionary

Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) is an instrument that analyzes the light loss in an optical fiber. An OTDR trace shows fiber attenuation for the system and location and magnitude of any losses from splices, connectors, and fiber anomalies or fiber discontinuities. An OTDR injects a short, intense laser pulse into the optical fiber and measures the backscatter and reflection of light as a function of time. The reflected light characteristics are analyzed to determine the location of any fiber optic breaks or splice losses.

Related Terms

OTDR: Optical Time Domain Reflectometer