DETECTION OF BRIDGE TAP USING FREQUENCY DOMAIN ANALYSIS

摘要

A method for detecting the presence of a bridge tap (40) and other types of fault in a transmission line (30). Initially, test signals of predetermined frequencies are transmitted into a transmitting end (10) of the transmission line (30). The test signals are received at a receiving end (20) of the transmission line (30) and the amplitudes of the received signal are measured. A frequency response of the transmission line (30) is computed based on the measured amplitudes. The frequency response is then analyzed for the presence of a frequency-domain signature that corresponds to one of the detectable types of fault. The presence of a bridge tap (40) or another type of fault is identified based on the detected frequency-domain signature. The frequency-domain signature associated with a bridge tap (40) can comprise a set of one or more attenuation dips in the frequeny response, with each attenuation dip corresponding to a local minima in the frequency response. The length (1) of the bridge tap (40) can be estimated based on a fundamental frequency of the set of harmonically related attenuation dips. Also, the location of the bridge tap (40) in the transmission line (30) can be estimated by performing a time domain reflectometer (TDR) test.