OPTICAL FIBER TIME DOMAIN SENSOR NETWORKS

WE PROPOSE AN ALL-DIELECTRIC FIBER OPTIC TIME DOMAIN SENSOR NETWORK WHICH ALLOWS QUASI-DISTRIBUTED, REAL TIME STRAIN, TEMPERATURE, AND PRESSURE MONITORING. THE SYSTEM PROVIDES FAST DATA RATES, PROVIDES LOW SIGNAL ATTENUATION, OFFERS IMMUNITY TO CORROSION AND ELECTRO-MAGNETIC INTERFERENCE, AND REDUCES NETWORKING COMPLEXITY. THE PROPOSED FIBER ARRAY IS AMENABLE TO SUBMERSED AND/OR BURIED APPLICATIONS, AND MAY OPERATE OVER A WIDE TEMPERATURE RANGE. THE SENSORS ARE BASED ON TIME DOMAIN PRINCIPLES WHERE PARAMETERS TO BE MONITORED ARE DETERMINED FROM CHANGES IN OPTICAL PULSE TIME OF FLIGHT. NOVEL FIBER OPTIC REENTRANT LOOP TECHNOLOGY IS PROPOSED TO ALLOW UNPRECEDENTED TIME DOMAIN MEASUREMENT RESOLUTION. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM OFFERS EXTREMELY RELIABLE, MULTI-PARAMETER, QUASI-DISTRIBUTED SENSING CAPABILITIES. COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS INCLUDE PLANT ENVIRONMENTS, BUILDING SAFETY, AND QUANTITATIVE NON-DESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION.