Methods and assemblies for using electrostriction to characterize properties of optical fiber

An assembly for estimating a property or environment of an optical fiber, comprising:

• a measuring mechanism for measuring a frequency dependent electrostrictive response of an optical fiber;
• an estimation algorithm for, based on the measured frequency dependent electrostrictive response, estimating a property or environment of the optical fiber;
• and
• a configuration algorithm to utilize the property or environment for operation of a system with the optical fiber.

A method of reducing uncertainty in the estimate of a measured fiber property of an optical fiber, comprising:

• estimating a property of the optical fiber via electrostriction;
• combining the estimated property with one or more additional estimates of the estimated property obtained through independent measurement;
• and
• utilizing the combined estimated for operation of a system with the optical fiber.