A simple fiber length measurement method with improved accuracy using microwave photonic technology

Abstract

A simple method to measure the length of optical fiber is proposed using microwave photonic technology. The length of fiber is measured according to the free spectral range (FSR) of the microwave photonic system. The measurement accuracy is only related to the accuracy of FSR measurement. The accuracy is further improved by introducing a reference fiber, and the method was verified in the experiment with 2–10 m single-mode fiber.