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:
Feb. 06, 2007
Filed:
Jul. 03, 2003
Francis M. Haran, North Vancouver, CA;
Francis M. Haran, North Vancouver, CA;
Senstar-Stellar Corporation, Carp, CA;
Abstract
A preferred apparatus and method is presented in which a distributed fiber optic sensor is used in order to detect a disturbance along its length. A pulse of polarized light is launched into an optical fiber; as the pulse propagates along the optical fiber, it continuously loses a small portion of its energy due to Rayleigh backscatter. The Rayleigh backscattered light is analyzed using a polarization sensitive element such as a fiber polarizer. The dynamics of the time dependence of the polarization analyzed backscattered light is used to ascertain if there has been a disturbance along the length of the optical fiber. This technique can be used for applications in areas such as fiber optic telecommunications, perimeter security, fire detection, and pipelines.