- OFM-500's open architecture software now provides automatic determination of best fiber route, duct management Acterna, the largest provider of test and management solutions to telecommunications network operators, announced that its Optical Fiber Mapping (OFM) software can now help determine the best fiber optic route to connect two points as well as manage inner duct connections and usage. Acterna's industry-leading OFM software is already able to hone in on the exact location of faults, outages, affected nodes, and customer sites, as well as shed light on the entire fiber optic network. With OFM software, users from different divisions within an organization can also generate customized reports or displays and get the specific information they need. Acterna is the only company offering a comprehensive portfolio addressing all the needs of service providers delivering voice, data and video over FTTx. The OFM-500's new features are powerful solutions for both telecommunications and cable operators, both of which utilize next-generation fiber optic networks. By identifying the best fiber optic route according to criteria specified by the user such as the lowest attenuation, the shortest length, or the minimum number of connections, the software saves a significant amount of work for both sales as well as provisioning personnel by eliminating countless hours finding spare fibers in each cable and virtually splicing the fibers. Additionally, in the case of a fiber fault, OFM-500 software finds, in matter of minutes, other optical fiber routes that can be used as a backup. The software also manages ducts and inner ducts, which is significant for operators who want to limit their up-front investment for access networks by installing inner ducts that will be filled with cables at a later date when demand increases. For each section of the access network, Acterna's OFM-500 software indicates information regarding the usage of ducts and inner ducts, the cables inside the ducts and inner ducts, and the customers served by those cables. When it is necessary to modify the network for maintenance tasks, the user will know which customers or services are likely to be affected. "Acterna's OFM-500 software is already ahead of the competition because it can import and view OTDR traces measured in the field, allowing the user to compare the network description recorded in the database with the actual measurements of the network elements. This ensures that what the telecommunications or cable operator sees in its network map is the same as what is actually in the network," said Enzo di Luigi, general manager for Acterna's Fiber Optics.