Patent · US Active

Distributed sensing apparatus

US11469816B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by

1References

20Claims

0Family size

Assignee

LUNA INNOVATIONS GERMANY GMBH · DE

Inventors

Thorben Jostmeier · Cologne, DE
Benjamin Marx · Cologne, DE
Alexander Rath · Cologne, DE
Wieland Hill · Odenthal, DE

Key dates

Filing date	Oct 2, 2019
Grant date	Oct 11, 2022
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Oct 2, 2039

Classification

Technology area (CPC G)Physics
CPC primaryG01D5/35358
WIPO fieldMeasurement
WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A distributed sensing apparatus based on Optical Time Domain Reflectometry, OTDR, including an optical source; an optical splitter in optical communication with the optical source, the optical splitter having first and second outputs; a sensing fibre in optical communication with the first output of the optical splitter; a combining unit arranged to combine a reference signal derived from the second output of the optical splitter with a backscattered signal derived from the sensing fibre, wherein the combining unit comprises one or more 3×3 fused fibre couplers; and a signal processing unit configured for processing information derived from the combining unit so as to provide distributed sensing data. The combining unit includes a polarization diversity arrangement including one or more polarization sensitive elements.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.