Fiber Optic Latency Testing

Luna's OBR systems can measure fiber optic latency with picosecond accuracy.

The ability to measure and verify the latency or length of a fiber optic network or link is an important capability for some critical network applications and fiber optic systems.

In optical networks where action on a message is time-critical, such as high-speed trading, latency becomes a critical design element. Latency in communications networks is comprised of the networking and processing of messages, as well as the transmission delay through the physical fiber. Measuring and optimizing this optical transmission delay can be critical in diagnosing latency issues in a data center or maintaining quality control in the production of precision fiber links.

Similarly, some fiber optic systems such as interferometers and radar systems for example, depend on very exact fiber length and latency for proper operation.

Fortunately, Luna’s OBR systems can measure fiber optic latency with picosecond accuracy. For example, the OBR 4600 can measure network latency with a sampling resolution of 10 micrometers and an absolute accuracy of <0.0034%. For a 100 m network, for example, this translates to a measurement accuracy of 3.4 mm (or about 16 picoseconds). The portable and rugged OBR 6225 provides similar accuracy of 4 mm for a 100 m network.