System and method for optical time-domain reflectometry and design data wire testing

• US 10,230,459 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2017
• Issued: 03/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Courter, Brandon M., Ngo, Nam V., Farner, Scott C, Dray, Joseph M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Liu, Li
• Application Number:
  US15/432,223
• Publication Number:
  US 20180234174A1
• Time in Patent Office: 756 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/071 using a reflected signal, e.g. using optical time domain reflectometers [OTDR]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/0791 Fault location on the transmission path
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/0795 Performance monitoring; Measurement of transmission parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0005 Switch and router aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0058 Crossbar; Matrix

Abstract

A system for testing continuity of a cable assembly includes an optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) device selectively coupled to an input connector of a cable and a design database storing cable data. The cable data indicates at least a length of the cable. The system includes a processor and memory in communication with the processor. The processor is configured to execute instructions stored on the memory which cause the processor to receive the cable data from the design database, receive OTDR data associated with the cable from the OTDR device, and calculate a distance-to-fault based on the OTDR data. In response to the distance-to-fault being less than the length of the cable, the processor determines that a connectivity failure has occurred with the cable and generates fault data indicating the connectivity failure.

Claims

1. A system for testing continuity of a cable assembly, the system comprising:

an optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) device configured to selectively couple to an input connector of one of a plurality of cables via a switching matrix;

a design database storing cable data, the cable data indicating at least a length of the cable, a connector, and a pin, wherein the cable data further indicates pathways of cables within vehicles;

a processor and memory in communication with the processor, the processor configured to execute instructions stored on the memory which cause the processor to;

receive a user input via an input device indicating a vehicle, a connector, and a pin;

send a request to a design database identifying the vehicle, the connector, and the pin;

receive the cable data from the design database;

receive OTDR data associated with the cable from the OTDR device;

calculate a distance-to-fault based on the OTDR data;

in response to the distance-to-fault being less than the length of the cable, determine that a connectivity failure has occurred with the cable and generate fault data indicating the connectivity failure; and

generate 3-point vehicle coordinates indicating a position of a failure within the vehicle, wherein the fault data indicating the connectivity failure further includes a numerical representation of the 3-point vehicle coordinates.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the cable includes a first cable segment and a second cable segment and further includes an intermediate connector disposed between the first and second cable segments for communicatively coupling the first and second cable segments to one another.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the cable data further indicates a distance from the input connector of the cable to the intermediate connector, and wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

compare the distance-to-fault to the distance from the input connector of the cable to the intermediate connector; and

in response to the distance-to-fault being substantially equal to the distance from the input connector of the cable to the intermediate connector, determine that the intermediate connector has failed, wherein the fault data indicating the connectivity failure further includes a part number that identifies the intermediate connector.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a user output device, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to generate a graphical user interface that superimposes a graphical representation of the cable data with a graphical representation of the OTDR data and to send the graphical user interface to the user output device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

calculate a signal loss associated with the cable based on the OTDR data; and

in response to the signal loss exceeding a threshold, determine that a signal loss failure has occurred within the cable and generate fault data indicating the signal loss failure.

6. A method of testing cable continuity comprising:

receiving user input indicating a vehicle, a connector, and a pin;

sending a request to a design database identifying the vehicle, the connector, and the pin;

after sending the request to the design database, receiving cable data from the design database indicating at least a length of a cable coupled to the connector at the pin for the vehicle from the design database;

receiving optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) data associated with the cable from an OTDR device coupled to an input connector of the cable;

calculating a distance-to-fault based upon the OTDR data;

comparing the distance-to-fault to the length of the cable; and

in response to the distance-to-fault being less than the length of the cable, generating fault data indicating a failure with in the cable; and

generating 3-point vehicle coordinates indicating a position of the failure within the vehicle, wherein the fault data further indicates the 3-point vehicle coordinates;

sending the fault data and 3-point vehicle coordinates to a user output device.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

in response to the distance-to-fault being substantially equal to the length of the cable, generating pass data indicating a successful test of the cable; and

sending the pass data to a user output device.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

in response to the distance-to-fault being greater than the length of the cable, generating error data indicating a testing error; and

sending the error data to a user output device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the cable data further indicates that the cable includes a first cable segment and a second cable segment and further includes an intermediate connector disposed between the first and second cable segments.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

comparing the distance-to-fault to the distance to the intermediate connector; and

in response to the distance-to-fault being substantially equal to the distance to the intermediate connector, determining that the intermediate connector has failed.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

generating a graphical user interface that superimposes a graphical representation of the cable data with a graphical representation of OTDR data; and

sending the graphical user interface to a user output device.

12. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

in addition to generating the fault data, generating a failure report indicating a cable bundle identifier associated with the failure, a cable identifier associated with the failure, a connector identifier associated with the failure, an identification of a type of failure, or any combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

calculating a signal peak associated with the connector based on the OTDR data; and

when the signal peak exceeds a threshold, generating warning data indicating the signal peak and the connector.

14. A system for testing a cable assembly, the system comprising:

an optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) device configured to selectively couple to an input connector of a cable;

a design database storing cable data, the cable data indicating at least a cable length and a part number associated with at least one connector;

a user output device; and

a processor and memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to;

receive a user input indicating a vehicle, the connector, and a pin; and

send a request to the design database identifying the vehicle, the connector, and the pin;

receive the cable data from the design database in response to the request;

receive OTDR data associated with the cable from the OTDR device;

calculate a distance-to-fault based on the OTDR data; and

in response to the distance-to-fault being less than the length of the cable, determine that a failure has occurred within the cable and generate fault data indicating the failure;

generate a graphical user interface that superimposes a graphical representation of the cable data, including a numerical representation of the part number associated with the at least one connector, with a graphical representation of OTDR data and vehicle coordinates indicating a position of the failure within the vehicle; and

send the graphical user interface to the user output device.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to:

generating 3-point vehicle coordinates indicating the position of the failure within the vehicle wherein the graphical user interface further includes a numerical representation of the 3-point vehicle coordinates.