Loop testing in a fibre-to-the-kerb environment
C.W.L. Hobbs · 1993
The author discusses the problems raised by automated loop testing in a fibre-to-the-kerb system and attempts to justify the use of the linecard rather than a remotely located test-head for carrying out the tests. The reasons for the use of the linecard are as follows: almost all of the functionality required is already on the linecard, the incremental cost on this cost-sensitive component normally being nothing; the linecard, by definition, has a control path to the remotely located processor and, thereby, across the processor's own control path, to the Element Manager, allowing tests to be executed on demand and routining information to be stored without the necessity of stealing additional bandwidth from the fibre; and routining can be carried out by the remotely-located processor since all it has to do is compare three previously-stored values for each line with those now measured, raising an alarm through its normal channel to the Element Manager if a change is noticed. This reduces the complexity of routining dramatically. >