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:
Mar. 27, 2012
Filed:
Sep. 29, 2009
John Sinclair Huffman, Conyers, GA (US);
John Sinclair Huffman, Conyers, GA (US);
AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Atlanta, GA (US);
Abstract
A system and method for monitoring the structural integrity of a structure is provided. An optical fiber is acoustically coupled to one or more of the structural elements. A source of optical energy is configured to inject optical energy into the optical fiber, and an optical detector is configured to detect a first optical return signal having characteristics that are affected by vibrations of the structural elements. An analyzer measures characteristics of the optical return signal to determine information concerning the movement of the structural elements monitored by the fiber optic cable. The results of the analyzer can be stored and so that the analysis of the optical return signal can be compared to previously recorded signals to determine changes in structural integrity over time. Multiple fibers can be acoustically coupled to the monitored structural elements to obtain additional data concerning the structural integrity.