Transferometry: A new tool for complex wired networks diagnosis
Abstract
Electrical cables of all types are subject to aggressive operational environments that can be source of defects or accelerated aging. Reflectometry-based methods are among the best ones for the detection and location of hard defects, but cannot easily provide efficient unambiguous diagnosis for complex topology networks, such as bus or star-shaped wired networks. This paper introduces the use of a new method, called transferometry, as an additional tool for the diagnosis of complex topology networks and shows that it presents many advantages compared to reflectometry, both in terms of implementation and data processing. Based on the fusion of the analysis results of several transmitted signals, it can provide a better diagnosis with fewer sensors than distributed reflectometry, with a simpler electronic architecture.