Technology
An expert from Clearfield explains why distributed fiber optic sensing has become popular with carriers that want to boost their ROI
By Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Distributed fiber optic sensing technology is a hot item in the telecom industry right now because it allows operators to leverage existing cables, says Robert Paul, who works with the strategy and market development team for fiber-optic technology producer and manufacturer Clearfield.
Recently, in July, Clearfield announced an expansion of their broad fiber portfolio to include distributed fiber optic sensing technology.
Currently, Clearfield says their distributed fiber optic sensing portfolio includes three types of sensing cables designed to monitor different conditions across fiber routes and facilities:
- Temperature sensing cables identify changes and hot spots
- Acoustic sensing cables detect digging, climbing, and intrusion
- Strain sensing cables monitor stress caused by ground movement, shifting poles, and other physical conditions
Paul said the technology as a whole, which allows operators to sense anything from foot traffic to seismic activity and landslides to cable disturbances, has become popular with carriers that want to boost their ROI and avoid costly truck rolls, but he acknowledges that the interrogators required to facilitate distributed fiber optic sensing remain quite expensive.
“Does it have a use case in every situation now? I don’t think it does,” he said, adding that the technology may make less sense on quiet residential streets that it does underneath a busy city boulevard.
“Downtown metros make a lot of sense (for distributed fiber optic sensing) because there’s so much happening constantly,” he said. “Anywhere where there’s a higher density of population near highways, where you’re going to have a lot of construction, is definitely something where I would advise (distributed fiber optic sensing).”
With a specific, specialized cable, Paul says operators can train their models to make sense of the backscatter data, allowing for refined insights that can tell the difference between a moving car, a human walking, or a specific type of animal.
“We work with the interrogator partner that you’ve chosen to kind of tune to what you’re trying to do with it,” he said.
He said strain sensing, for instance, could be used on a bridge to monitor structural health.
Currently, interrogators can run from $50,000 to $200,000, based on a variety of factors, according to Paul. Those costs can be cost prohibitive for some, but Paul says at a future stage, when the cost of interrogators come down, he can see a time where smaller providers commonly integrate acoustic sensing into their operations.
Additionally, while some interrogator platforms are trained on specific cables, Paul says other companies have made their interrogators more agnostic.
“What Clearfield’s really focused on is that fiber backbone that allows you to sense temperature, strain, and acoustics,” Paul said, explaining that the technology, at its core, includes pulsing a fiber cable and looking for tiny delineations within the fiber.
Once that data is reported back, Paul said the data is then interpreted by an interrogator through a software platform.
“Fiber optic sensing works in three different levels,” he said. “You have a cable, you have an interrogator, and you have software. While Clearfield has added a fourth layer, which is more application support and being able to support the field to help solve problems, those other three layers are key to ensuring a successful deployment of fiber optic sensing.”
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