Method for improving the performance of fiber-optic gyros by calculating the bias from using a broadband source
US5963323A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 6, 1998 |
| Grant date | Oct 5, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 6, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01C19/721
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The invention is a method for improving the performance of a fiber-optic gyro comprising counter-propagating light beams from a broadband source in an optical fiber configured as a coil. The fiber-optic gyro is of the type where the phases of the light beams are step-modulated at one or both ends of the optical fiber at time intervals equal to the light propagation time .tau. through the optical fiber, the step being in the range from 0 to 2.pi.-.delta. radians where .delta. is an infinitesimal. The step is the sum of an estimate of the Sagnac phase residual .phi..sub.SE with reversed sign and the quantity (2.pi.k+j.phi..sub.M) where the index k can take on the values -1, 0, and 1, and the index j can take on the values -1 and 1. The phase angle .phi..sub.M is a positive constant less than .pi. radians. The method comprises the steps of determining the interferometer output light intensity, determining the Sagnac fringe number n, calculating the error P.sub.nkj in the interferometer output light intensity attributable to the use of a broadband light-beam source for particular values of an index pair (k,j), determining estimates A.sub.kj of the probabilities of the index pairs (k,j)…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.