Development of optical multidrop transmission lines and operation and maintenance technology for the full automation of power distribution lines

Abstract

For the multimedia era, the authors plan to use optical fiber cables as the transmission media in integrated automatic distribution systems. This system provides a variety of advanced customer service functions and power distribution reliability features, such as remote metering, load control, and information service, including power consumption notification. The authors study an optical fiber multidrop network whose transmission path contains no active devices, using only optical fibers and optical couplers. The development of these passive optical networks must be accompanied by the development of useful components, maintenance methods, and operation procedures. The authors have developed ABF (air-blown fiber) composite power cables and optical branch boxes and have studied new optical network control procedures. They have also studied maintenance methods for optical multidrop networks, such as localization of obstacle points and charge-over switches for transmission paths. © 1997 Scripta Technica, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn 119(1): 24–34, 1997