Outage impact analysis
Query the possible impact of selected infrastructure outages on circuit, endpoint and building records.
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Analysis scopeQuery an outage from the mapInterpret the resultEstimate a location from OTDR distanceAnalysis scope
Outage impact queries current project connection records. It assesses circuit connectivity assuming the selected elements become unavailable. A query result is not a saved fault record; it does not collect alarms or live equipment status.
Inputs may be a cable, individual fiber or fiber range, node, equipment port, route segment or duct/subduct. Segments and ducts resolve to cables only through saved route relationships. A cable appearing near a segment on the map but not linked to it is not included through that input.
Query an outage from the map
- Open Outage impact.
- Select Add from map, then a cable, node, trench/aerial line segment or duct.
- Check Outage elements and Remove unwanted inputs.
- Choose the Active, Planned and Inactive circuit statuses to query. Active and planned circuits are selected initially.
- Select Calculate.
- Review result classes and warnings. Highlight affected paths with Show on map and download CSV.
Outage impact in a circuit card adds the cables from its saved path to the query list. This evaluates all those cables failing together; remove unnecessary inputs.
A single query accepts up to 50 outage elements. Resolving cable, segment and duct inputs may produce up to 500 cables in total. Use Calculate again after changing inputs or statuses.
Interpret the result
| Result | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Affected | A circuit connected before the outage loses connectivity under the selected outage. |
| Disconnected (before outage) | The circuit was already disconnected in the records before the query. |
| Could not assess | Anchor or path conditions prevented assessment; the list explains why. |
| Unaffected | Within the assessed records, the selected outage did not disconnect the circuit. |
| Falls back to backup | The primary path is interrupted while at least one verified saved backup remains outside the outage. |
Falls back to backup analyses saved paths; it does not mean equipment has switched automatically. Review shared physical elements of primary and backup paths separately through shared-risk analysis.
Unaffected circuits are shown as a total rather than individual rows. Endpoint and building tables appear if the address and building module can be read. Interpret complete or partly together with the circuit and endpoint counts linked to those records. Endpoint and building counts are omitted when the address module is disabled.
Coverage is only as complete as the entered connections and routes. Before concluding there is no impact, review warnings about cables without routes, unresolved anchors and unsupported paths.
Estimate a location from OTDR distance
Position from OTDR helps turn the distance obtained from a measuring instrument into an approximate position on the recorded network.
- Under OTDR, leave SOR measurement as Manual distance and anchor, then select the measurement's starting node in Anchor node….
- Choose the starting endpoint from Select a port or fiber strand….
- Enter Distance (m) and, if needed, Wavelength (nm, information only) and Refractive index (optional).
- Select Locate.
- Inspect estimated cable/fiber candidates, the distance band and candidate nodes. Use On map to view a candidate's location.
- Add an appropriate candidate to the query with Add as fiber strand fault or Add as cable outage, then select Calculate.
This does not create a permanent fault marker; it changes only the query input. The location is estimated and a branching network may produce multiple candidates. Wavelength is informational in this positioning operation. For positioning directly from a SOR event and filling measurement fields, see OTDR files and fault location.
