The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 21, 1993
Filed:
Oct. 16, 1992
Yukio Sai, Tokyo, JP;
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Kawasaki, JP;
Abstract
An apparatus for measuring temperature along an optical fiber uses backscattered light and optical time domain reflectometry to obtain a measure of the temperature distribution along the fiber. The ratio of anti-Stokes Raman to Stokes Raman backscattered light is used to determine the temperature distribution. In order to compensate for fluctuations in the wavelength of a laser source there is provided in a first embodiment an optical filter which passes Fresnel components of the light reflected from a distal end of the fiber. Changes in the ratio of the filtered Fresnel components correspond to changes in the source wavelength which may then be compensated by adjusting the source wavelength. In a second embodiment, the optical filter is used to measure the ratio of anti-Stokes Raman and Stokes Raman backscattered components derived from a reference temperature section of the fiber in which the temperature is held constant. Variations in this ratio result from source fluctuations which may again be compensated so as to maintain the laser source at a substantially constant output frequency thus permitting more accurate measurement of the temperature distributed along the fiber.