Patent ID: 11956016
Assignee: KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Field: Optics (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 18:
19. A method for synchronizing communication and sensing devices in a network, the method comprising:
generating a first local oscillating signal at a first local oscillator;
generating communication data at a first communication device which is optically coupled to a first end of a first core of a multicore optical fiber, the first communication device having the first local oscillator that generates the first local oscillating signal;
sending the communication data along the first core of the multicore optical fiber;
sending the first local oscillator signal along a second core of the multicore optical fiber;
receiving at a second communication device, which is optically coupled to a second end of the first core of the multicore optical fiber, the communication data;
receiving at a second local oscillator, which is part of the second communication device, the first local oscillating signal;
using the first local oscillating signal to decode the communication data;
sending sensing data with a first sensing device optically coupled to a first end of a third core of the multicore optical fiber, the first sensing device having a third local oscillator that generates a second local oscillating signal;
sending the second local oscillating signal along a fourth core of the multicore optical fiber;
receiving the sensing data at a second sensing device optically coupled to a second end of the third core of the multicore optical fiber, the second sensing device having a fourth local oscillator that receives the second local oscillating signal along the fourth core of the multicore optical fiber,
wherein the first and second communication devices exclusively exchange the communication data along the first core,
wherein the first and second local oscillators exclusively exchange the first local oscillating signal along the second core,
wherein the first and second sensing devices exclusively exchange sensing data along the third core, and
wherein the third and fourth local oscillators exclusively exchange the second local oscillator signal along the fourth core.