Optical sensor system utilizing bragg grating sensors
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system for detecting perturbations to which a piece of equipment is being subjected thereto, said system comprising:
- (a) an optical sensor placed along said piece of equipment and having a plurality of reflective Bragg gratings induced in the sensor and each grating acting as a sensor element, each grating having a unique location along said piece of equipment and a unique wavelength component for reflecting incident light, each of said unique wavelength components of said sensor elements being altered when being subjected to perturbations;
(b) a light source for providing input light to said sensor to cover all of said wavelength components so as to reflect incident light from each of said gratings;
(c) an unbalanced interferometer for receiving said reflected incident light from each of said gratings, said unbalanced interferometer having first and second arms and generating an interferometric signal for each wavelength component of said incident light reflected by each of said Bragg gratings;
(d) means for generating a modulation signal;
(e) a phase modulator for receiving said modulation signal, said phase modulator being placed in one of said arms of said unbalanced interferometer, said phase modulator modulating each of said interferometric signals; and
(f) a demodulator for receiving each of said modulated interferometric signals and producing output signals representative of the amount each of said unique wavelength components of said reflected incident light is altered when subjected to said perturbations.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An optical system for detecting perturbations indicative of the performancef the piece of equipment being monitored is disclosed. The optical system comprises sensors each of which use Bragg gratings induced therein and wherein the Bragg gratings are arranged into a preselected distribution and each Bragg grating returns, when subjected to incident light, a narrowbeam signal identified by a predetermined wavelength. The optical system utilizes at least one interferometer whose operation is interlinked with optical multiplexing techniques, such as differentiate-cross-multiplying and time-division multiplexing.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A system for detecting perturbations to which a piece of equipment is being subjected thereto, said system comprising:
-
(a) an optical sensor placed along said piece of equipment and having a plurality of reflective Bragg gratings induced in the sensor and each grating acting as a sensor element, each grating having a unique location along said piece of equipment and a unique wavelength component for reflecting incident light, each of said unique wavelength components of said sensor elements being altered when being subjected to perturbations; (b) a light source for providing input light to said sensor to cover all of said wavelength components so as to reflect incident light from each of said gratings; (c) an unbalanced interferometer for receiving said reflected incident light from each of said gratings, said unbalanced interferometer having first and second arms and generating an interferometric signal for each wavelength component of said incident light reflected by each of said Bragg gratings; (d) means for generating a modulation signal; (e) a phase modulator for receiving said modulation signal, said phase modulator being placed in one of said arms of said unbalanced interferometer, said phase modulator modulating each of said interferometric signals; and (f) a demodulator for receiving each of said modulated interferometric signals and producing output signals representative of the amount each of said unique wavelength components of said reflected incident light is altered when subjected to said perturbations. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A system for detecting perturbations to which a piece of equipment is being subjected thereto, said system comprising:
-
(a) an optical sensor placed along said piece of equipment and having a plurality of reflective Bragg gratings induced in the sensor and each grating acting as a sensor element, each grating having a unique location along said piece of equipment and a unique wavelength component for reflecting incident light, each of said unique wavelength components of said optical sensor being altered when being subjected to perturbations; (b) a first light source for providing input light to said sensor at a first operating wavelength λ
having a bandwidth that covers all of said wavelength components so as to reflect incident light from each of said gratings;(c) a second light source for providing input light to said sensor at a second operating wavelength λ
having a bandwidth that covers all of said wavelength components so as to reflect incident light from each of said gratings;(d) a first unbalanced interferometer having an operating wavelength corresponding to said wavelength λ and
receiving said reflected incident light from each of said Bragg gratings, said first unbalanced interferometer having first and second arms and generating an interferometric signal for each wavelength component of said incident light reflected by each of said Bragg gratings;(e) a second unbalanced interferometer having an operating wavelength corresponding to said wavelength λ
'"'"' and receiving reflected light from each of said Bragg gratings, said second unbalanced interferometer having first and second arms and generating an interferometric signal for each wavelength component of said incident light reflected by each of said Bragg gratings;(f) means for generating a modulation signal; (g) a first phase modulator for receiving said modulation signal, said first phase modulator being placed in one of said arms of said first unbalanced interferometer, said first phase modulator modulating each of said interferometric signals of said first unbalanced interferometer; (h) a second phase modulator for receiving said modulation signal, said second phase modulator being placed in one of said arms of said second unbalanced interferometer, said second phase modulator modulating each of said interferometric signals of said second unbalanced interferometer; (i) a first demodulator for receiving each of said modulated interferometric signals from said first unbalanced interferometer and producing output signals representative of the amount each of said unique wavelength components of said reflected incident light is altered relative to said wavelength λ
when subjected to said perturbations; and(j) a second demodulator for receiving each of said modulated interferometric signals from said second unbalanced interferometer and producing output signals representative of the amount each of said unique wavelength components of said reflected incident light is altered relative to said wavelength λ
'"'"' when subjected to said perturbations. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
Specification