Optical-based fire detection systems and methods

An apparatus for monitoring a flammable region for occurrence of a fire in the flammable region, the apparatus comprising:

• a light signal collecting unit located inside of the flammable region;
• a light signal processing unit located outside of the flammable region;
• and
• one or more optical fiber bundles optically interconnecting the light signal collecting unit and the light signal processing unit to enable the light signal processing unit to receive at least one light signal from the light signal collecting unit and to process one or more characteristics of the at least one light signal to determine if the at least one light signal is indicative of a fire in the flammable region.

A method of verifying functionality of an optical-based fire detection system that monitors a flammable region for occurrence of a fire in the flammable region, the method comprising:

• emitting light in the flammable region;
• collecting emitted light;
• and
• directing collected light to a light signal processing unit that is located outside of the flammable region to allow the light signal processing unit to process the collected light to verify functionality of the optical-based fire detection system.

An apparatus for verifying functionality of an optical-based fire detection system that is monitoring a flammable region for occurrence of a fire in the flammable region, the apparatus comprising:

• a light signal collecting unit located inside of the flammable region;
• a light signal processing unit located outside of the flammable region;
• and
• one or more optical fiber bundles optically interconnecting the light signal collecting unit and the light signal processing unit to enable the light signal processing unit to receive at least one light signal from the light signal collecting unit and to process the at least one light signal to verify functionality of the light signal collecting unit and thereby to verify functionality of the optical-based fire detection system.

An optical-based fire detection system having a fire detecting mode in which the system is monitoring a flammable region for occurrence of fire in the flammable region and a system calibrating mode in which functionality of the system can be verified, the optical-based fire detection system comprising:

• a light signal collecting unit located inside of the flammable region;
• a light signal processing unit located outside of the flammable region;
• a light signal calibrating unit located outside of the flammable region;
• and
• one or more optical fiber bundles optically interconnecting the light signal collecting unit, the light signal processing unit, and the light signal calibrating unit to (i) when the fire detection system is in the fire detecting mode, enable the light signal processing unit to receive at least one light signal from the light signal collecting unit and to process one or more characteristics of the at least one light signal to determine if the at least one light signal is indicative of a fire in the flammable region, and (ii) when the fire detection is in the system calibrating mode, enable the light signal processing unit to receive at least one calibrating light signal from the light signal calibrating unit and to process the at least one calibrating light signal to verify functionality of the light signal collecting unit and thereby to verify functionality of the optical-based fire detection system.