FIBER OPTIC BUS-ORGANIZED SYSTEMS FOR SENSOR DATA ACQUISITION AND VALIDATION

THE SUBJECT OF THIS PROPOSAL IS A NOVEL FIBEROPTIC APPROACH TO SENSOR AND ACTUATOR DATA ACQUISITION AND HANDLING, SUITABLE FOR COLLECTING AND PROCESSING CONDITION DATA FROM NUMEROUS REMOTE SENSORS AND/OR ACUATORS USED IN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS OR ANY OTHER LARGE INSTALLATIONS. THE APPROACH IS BASED ON A TECHNIQUE FOR THE NONINVASIVE COUPLING OF INFORMATION INTO A NEW TYPE OF OPTICAL FIBER FROM THE SIDE AT ANY POINT OR, SIMULTANEOUSLY OR IN ANY ARBITRARY SEQUENCE, AT NUMEROUS POINTS ALONG A CONTINUOUS FIBER LENGTH. THE FIBER IS DESIGNED TO AUTOMATICALLY DEMULTIPLEX AND SPATIALLY RESOLVE SAID INFORMATION WITHOUT THE NEED FOR TIME-SHARING PROTOCOLS. THE OBJECTIVE OF PHASE I WORK IS TO FABRICATE THE FIBER AND TEST THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS APPROACH. IF SUCCESSFUL, IT SHOULD LEADTO EFFICIENT, COST-EFFECTIVE, FLEXIBLE AND EASILY RECONFIGURABLE DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS, HAVING THE ADDED ADVANTAGE OF IMMUNITY TO ELECTROMAGNETIC AND RADIOFREQUENCY INTERFERENCE.