Method and system for determining the location of a fiber optic channel along the length of a fiber optic cable

A method for determining the physical location of at least one of a series of fiber optic channels distributed along at least part of the length of a fiber optic cable, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) arranging an electrical conductor adjacent to the at least one of a series of fiber optic channels;
• b) arranging at least one magnetic source at a known physical location in the vicinity of the electrical conductor;
• c) transmitting an electrical current through the electrical conductor;
• d) inducing the magnetic source to deform the electrical conductor in the vicinity of the magnetic source;
• e) conveying the deformation of the electrical conductor to the at least one of the series of fiber optic channels;
• f) transmitting light pulses through the fiber optic cable and using time of flight information of back reflections of the light pulses transmitted by the series of fiber optic channels to obtain information about the locations of the channels along the length of the fiber optic cable;
• and
• g) using variations in the light pulses back reflected by the at least one of the series of fiber optic channel, which is located in the vicinity of the at least one magnetic source, as a result of the deformation induced in accordance with step (e) and the known physical location of the magnetic source to determine the physical location of the at least one of the series of fiber optic channels, wherein the fiber optic cable comprises a contiguous series of fiber optic channels that are distributed along at least part of the length of the fiber optic cable and the method is used to identify which of these channels is located adjacent to the magnetic source.