Fiber bragg grating sensor interrogator and manufacture thereof

• US 20070280601A1
• Filed: 05/31/2006
• Published: 12/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Edgar Mendoza
• Original Assignee: Edgar Mendoza
• Inventors: Mendoza, Edgar
• Granted Patent: US 7,512,291 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 385/88
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 5/35383 using multiple sensor devices using multiplexing techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G01H 9/004 using fibre optic sensors light guides per se G02B6/00, acousto-optical devices specially adapted for gating or modulating in optical wave guides G02F1/125
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12107 Grating
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/02085 characterised by the grating profile, e.g. chirped, apodised, tilted, helical
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/305 and having an integrated mode-size expanding section, e.g. tapered waveguide

Abstract

The invention discloses multi-channel fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogation systems and manufacture thereof. The multi-channel fiber Bragg-grating sensor interrogation unit comprises at least one integrated optic sensor microchip and a signal processing IC-electronics unit in a miniaturized, telecommunications standard, hermetically sealed 2-cm×5-cm SFF single fiber package.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring the status of a plurality of FBG transducers distributed along a single optical fiber, comprising

interrogating said FBC transducers with a broadband spectrum light source couple to said fiber throuah an optics block having an integrated planar wave guide structure;

and

receiving at ports located along the edges of said block the respective digital signatures of said FBG transducers in response to said interrogating.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising allocating to each of said ports a corresponding one of said signatures.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the optics block to operate in the 1520-nm to 1570-nm wavelength range.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the optics block to operate in the 1310-nm telecommunication wavelength range.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising configuring the optics block to operate in the 800-nm to 900 nm telecommunication wavelength range.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the optics block has a spectral wavelength resolution of better than 5-pm.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the data acquisition rate of said interrogating ranges from DC to 20 kHz.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the data acquisition rate of said interrogating ranges from 20 kHz to 5 MHz.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the electrical power budget for said optics block is equal to or less than 0.5 amp.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein

said allocating of said ports to said signatures comprises includes allocating a WOM interference filter at certain of said ports, said WDM filter having a pass-band respective to the optical signature of each of said FBG transducers.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said interrogating comprises transmitting optical signals to and from said fiber Bragg grating sensor FBG array and demodulating the wavelength encoded signal from the FBG sensor to an electrical signal as a function of the environmental state of the FBG array. 12-20. (canceled)