Fiber optic gyroscope with optical gating for spike suppression

A fiber optic gyroscope comprising:

• an optical fiber coil;
• at least one optical circuit in optical communication with the optical fiber coil and configured to be in optical communication with at least one optical source, the at least one optical circuit configured to receive input optical signals generated by the at least one optical source, to split each input optical signal into a first portion and a second portion, to split each second portion into a first optical signal and a second optical signal, to phase modulate one or both of the first optical signal and the second optical signal, to transmit the first optical signal and the second optical signal to the optical fiber coil such that the first and second optical signals counter propagate through the optical fiber coil, to receive the first and second optical signals after counterpropagating through the optical fiber coil, and to combine the first and second optical signals after counterpropagating through the optical fiber coil;
• and
• at least one optical switch configured to receive the first portion of the input optical signals, to receive the combined first and second optical signals from the at least one optical circuit, and to controllably switch between a first state and a second state in response to control signals from at least one waveform generator, the at least one optical switch in the first state configured to transmit only the first portion of the input optical signals to at least one photodetector, the at least one optical switch in the second state configured to transmit only the combined first and second optical signals to the at least one photodetector.