Abstract: High-resolution optical backscatter system and method to discover the end-to-end physical topology of complex, interconnected fiber optic network, and to automatically monitor and troubleshoot its performance. Each passive cable element has unique, substantially unchanging optical backscatter signature based on microscopic random imperfections of the glass core along the length of the optical fiber, measurable along the length of the optical fiber using an optical reflection meter. The resulting signature is a two dimensional array of data points (or trace) corresponding to the optical backreflection signal strength as a function of length. When multiple cables are interconnected to produce a link, the corresponding traces of the multiple cables are concatenated to produce a composite trace for the entire link. The composite trace is compared to the traces of individual cables and the series of cables comprising the link and the serial relationship in which they are interconnected is thereby determined.

Abstract: Applications of robotics applied to patch-panels and cross-connects to improve operational processes within data centers and communications networks. Systems and architectures to perform frequent, accurate and low-cost reconfigurations and measurements of the physical network are described, thereby eliminating labor and time delays when completing routine tasks such physical network provisioning and reconfiguration.