A Novel Interrogation System for Large Scale Sensing Network With Identical Ultra-Weak Fiber Bragg Gratings

Author

Chenyuan Hu ; Hongqiao Wen ; Wei Bai

Author_Institution

Key Lab. of Fiber Opt. Sensing Technol. & Inf. Process., Wuhan Univ. of Technol., Wuhan, China

Volume

32

Issue

7

fYear

2014

fDate

41730

Firstpage

1406

Lastpage

1411

Abstract

A novel interrogation system for large scale sensing network with identical ultra-weak fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) is proposed, theoretically analyzed and experimentally studied. Based on time-division multiplexing (TDM) technique, two semiconductor optical amplifiers are introduced to the interrogation system to achieve fast and flexible demodulation. A simulation depending on the formula of reflected pulse spectra, derived by analyzing the source of disturbance along the optical path, is processed for evaluating the performance theoretically. Experiment was demonstrated on an 843 serial FBGs sensor network, with a peak reflectivity of -40 to -45 dB and a spatial resolution of 2 m along a single optical fiber by launching a 50 kHz scanning frequency with 20 ns effective pulse width to the system. Due to the low crosstalk, it is possible to integrate several thousands of FBG sensors in a single optical fiber.

Keywords

optical fibres; semiconductor optical amplifiers; time division multiplexing; FBG sensors; identical ultra-weak fiber Bragg gratings; interrogation system; large scale sensing network; novel interrogation system; semiconductor optical amplifiers; single optical fiber; time-division multiplexing technique; Charge coupled devices; Multiplexing; Optical fiber sensors; Optical fibers; Reflection; Reflectivity; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Optical crosstalk; optical fiber measurement applications; semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs); time division multiplexing (TDM);

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2014.2305714

Filename

6737268