Nippon Telegraph and Telephone has filed a patent for an optical communication system that includes optical combining/splitting units, slave devices, a master device, and a monitoring apparatus. The system detects abnormalities in optical communication and notifies the monitoring apparatus, which then identifies the failure position on the trunk fiber based on the received information. GlobalData’s report on Nippon Telegraph and Telephone gives a 360-degree view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.
Smarter leaders trust GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
According to GlobalData’s company profile on Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, Cloud gaming was a key innovation area identified from patents. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone's grant share as of September 2023 was 25%. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.
Optical communication system with monitoring and failure detection
A recently filed patent (Publication Number: US20230318704A1) describes an optical communication system that includes multiple optical combining/splitting units, slave devices, a master device, and a monitoring apparatus. Each optical combining/splitting unit consists of an optical fiber, an optical sensor, and a transmitter. The optical sensor detects the optical signal passing through the fiber, and the transmitter sends an abnormality notification to the monitoring apparatus if there is an issue with the optical communication. The abnormality notification includes identification information of the optical combining/splitting unit.
The monitoring apparatus has a memory that stores connection relationship information, indicating the connection between the optical combining/splitting units along the trunk fiber. It also has a processor that, upon receiving the abnormality notification from any of the optical combining/splitting units, determines the failure position on the trunk fiber based on the identification information and the connection relationship information.
In this system, the upstream direction is towards the master device along the trunk fiber. The processor identifies the first optical combining/splitting unit that transmitted the abnormality notification as the most upstream unit. Based on the connection relationship information, the processor determines that the failure position exists in the upstream direction from the first optical combining/splitting unit.
Additionally, the processor identifies the second optical combining/splitting unit, which is adjacent to the first unit in the upstream direction but did not transmit the abnormality notification. Based on the connection relationship information, the processor determines that the failure position exists between the first and second optical combining/splitting units.
The connection relationship information stored in the monitoring apparatus includes connection information for each optical combining/splitting unit. This information includes the identification of each unit and the identification of the upstream unit adjacent to it in the upstream direction.
The patent also describes a monitoring apparatus and a monitoring method executed by a computer in the optical communication system. These components function similarly to the previously mentioned monitoring apparatus, acquiring connection relationship information, receiving abnormality notifications, and specifying the failure position on the trunk fiber based on the identification information and connection relationship information.
Overall, this patent presents an optical communication system with improved monitoring capabilities, allowing for the identification of failure positions along the trunk fiber based on abnormality notifications from the optical combining/splitting units.
To know more about GlobalData’s detailed insights on Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, buy the report here.
Data Insights
From
The gold standard of business intelligence.
Blending expert knowledge with cutting-edge technology, GlobalData’s unrivalled proprietary data will enable you to decode what’s happening in your market. You can make better informed decisions and gain a future-proof advantage over your competitors.
GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData Patent Analytics tracks bibliographic data, legal events data, point in time patent ownerships, and backward and forward citations from global patenting offices. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
