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US 12,647,181 B2Granted
Locating disturbances in optical fibres
AssigneeTampnet AS
InventorSteinar Bjørnstad
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for determining a position of a disturbance to an optical fibre assembly comprises a detector system that receives concurrently, from the optical fibre system, a first digital optical signal having a first wavelength and a second digital optical signal having a second wavelength. The apparatus monitors a common parameter of the first and second signals over time and determines respective times at which a change occurs in said parameter in each signal, the change arising from a disturbance to the optical fibre assembly. The apparatus uses the first and second times to determine a position of the disturbance.
Claims24
An apparatus for determining a position of a disturbance to an optical fibre assembly, the apparatus comprising:
- a detector system;
- and
- a processing system, coupled to the detector system,
- wherein the apparatus is arranged to:
- receive concurrently at the detector system a first digital optical signal having a first wavelength from an optical fibre assembly and a second digital optical signal having a second wavelength from the optical fibre assembly;
- measure a common parameter of the first and second digital optical signals, wherein the parameter is a state of polarisation;
- monitor the parameter of the first and second digital optical signals over time;
- determine first data representative of a first time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the first digital optical signal received at the detector system, the change arising from a disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- determine second data representative of a second time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the second digital optical signal received at the detector system, the change arising from the disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- and
- process the first data and the second data to determine a position of the disturbance.
8 more elements
A detector system for use in a method of determining a position of a disturbance to an optical fibre assembly, the detector system being configured to:
- receive a first digital optical signal having a first wavelength and a second digital optical signal having a second wavelength from an optical fibre assembly;
- monitor a common parameter of the received first and second digital optical signals over time, wherein the parameter is a state of polarisation;
- determine first data representative of a first time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the received first digital optical signal, the change arising from a disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- and
- determine second data representative of a second time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the received second digital optical signal, the change arising from the disturbance;
- wherein the first data and second data are suitable for processing to determine a position of the disturbance.
3 more elements
A method of determining a position of a disturbance to an optical fibre assembly, the method comprising:
- receiving a first digital optical signal having a first wavelength and a second digital optical signal having a second wavelength from an optical fibre assembly;
- monitoring a common parameter of the received first and second digital optical signals over time, wherein the parameter is a state of polarisation;
- determining first data representative of a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the received first digital optical signal, the change arising from a disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- determining second data representative of a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the received second digital optical signal, the change arising from the disturbance;
- and
- processing the first data and the second data to determine a position of the disturbance.
3 more elements
An apparatus for determining a position of a disturbance to an optical fibre assembly, the apparatus comprising:
- a detector system;
- and
- a processing system, coupled to the detector system,
- wherein the apparatus is arranged to:
- receive concurrently at the detector system a first digital optical signal having a first wavelength from an optical fibre assembly and a second digital optical signal having a second wavelength from the optical fibre assembly;
- measure a common parameter of the first and second digital optical signals,
- monitor the parameter of the first and second digital optical signals over time;
- determine first data representative of a first time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the first digital optical signal received at the detector system, the change arising from a disturbance to the optical fibre assembly, wherein the first data comprises a first series of values representative of changes in the parameter of the first digital optical signal over time;
- determine second data representative of a second time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the second digital optical signal received at the detector system, the change arising from the disturbance to the optical fibre assembly, wherein the second data comprises a second series of values representative of changes in the parameter of the second digital optical signal over time;
- and
- process the first data and the second data to determine a position of the disturbance, wherein the processing system is configured to perform a cross-correlation operation between the first data and the second data when determining the position of the disturbance.
8 more elements
An apparatus for determining a position of a disturbance to an optical fibre assembly, the apparatus comprising:
- a detector system;
- and
- a processing system, coupled to the detector system,
- wherein the apparatus is arranged to:
- receive concurrently at the detector system a first digital optical signal having a first wavelength from an optical fibre assembly and a second digital optical signal having a second wavelength from the optical fibre assembly;
- measure a common parameter of the first and second digital optical signals,
- monitor the parameter of the first and second digital optical signals over time;
- determine first data representative of a first time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the first digital optical signal received at the detector system, the change arising from a disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- determine second data representative of a second time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the second digital optical signal received at the detector system, the change arising from the disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- and
- process the first data and the second data to determine a position of the disturbance;
- wherein the apparatus further comprises an optical analysis system, comprising:
- a first optical analysis component, configured to output a first monitoring signal that represents changes in the parameter of the first digital optical signal;
- and
- a second optical analysis component, configured to output a second monitoring signal that represents changes in the parameter for the second digital optical signal;
- wherein the processing system is arranged to cross-correlate the first monitoring signal and the second monitoring signal to determine a time difference between the first time and the second time.
13 more elements
An apparatus for determining a position of a disturbance to an optical fibre assembly, the apparatus comprising:
- a detector system;
- and
- a processing system, coupled to the detector system,
- wherein the apparatus is arranged to:
- receive concurrently at the detector system a first digital optical signal having a first wavelength from an optical fibre assembly and a second digital optical signal having a second wavelength from the optical fibre assembly;
- measure a common parameter of the first and second digital optical signals,
- monitor the parameter of the first and second digital optical signals over time;
- determine first data representative of a first time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the first digital optical signal received at the detector system, the change arising from a disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- determine second data representative of a second time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the second digital optical signal received at the detector system, the change arising from the disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- and
- process the first data and the second data to determine a position of the disturbance;
- wherein the apparatus further comprises a clock, and wherein the apparatus is configured to receive time-stamped synchronisation packets over the optical fibre assembly for the purpose of synchronising the clock with an external clock.
9 more elements
A detector system for use in a method of determining a position of a disturbance to an optical fibre assembly, the detector system being configured to:
- receive a first digital optical signal having a first wavelength and a second digital optical signal having a second wavelength from an optical fibre assembly;
- monitor a common parameter of the received first and second digital optical signals over time;
- and
- determine first data representative of a first time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the received first digital optical signal, the change arising from a disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- and
- determine second data representative of a second time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the received second digital optical signal, the change arising from the disturbance;
- wherein the first data and second data are suitable for processing to determine a position of the disturbance;
- wherein the detector system comprises an optical analysis system comprising:
- a first optical analysis component, configured to output a first monitoring signal that represents changes in the parameter of the first digital optical signal;
- and
- a second optical analysis component, configured to output a second monitoring signal that represents changes in the parameter for the second digital optical signal;
- and
- wherein the detector system comprises a first coherent receiver, comprising the first optical analysis component, and a second coherent receiver, comprising the second optical analysis component.
10 more elements
A detector system for use in a method of determining a position of a disturbance to an optical fibre assembly, the detector system being configured to:
- receive a first digital optical signal having a first wavelength and a second digital optical signal having a second wavelength from an optical fibre assembly;
- monitor a common parameter of the received first and second digital optical signals over time;
- and
- determine first data representative of a first time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the received first digital optical signal, the change arising from a disturbance to the optical fibre assembly;
- and
- determine second data representative of a second time, being a time at which a change occurs in said parameter of the received second digital optical signal, the change arising from the disturbance;
- wherein the first data and second data are suitable for processing to determine a position of the disturbance;
- wherein the detector system comprises a clock and an optical analysis system, the optical analysis system comprising:
- a first optical analysis component, configured to output a first monitoring signal that represents changes in the parameter of the first digital optical signal;
- and
- a second optical analysis component, configured to output a second monitoring signal that represents changes in the parameter for the second digital optical signal;
- wherein the first and the second optical analysis components are configured to use the clock to time-stamp the first and second monitoring signals respectively according to times that the first and second digital optical signals respectively arrive at the detector system.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.