Patent ID: 9546915
Date: 2017-01-17
CPC Classifications: G01D,G01K,G01L

Claim:
1. A method for estimating a parameter, the method comprising: generating an optical signal, the optical signal modulated via a modulation signal; transmitting the modulated optical signal from a light source into an optical fiber, the optical fiber including a plurality of sensing locations disposed along the optical fiber and configured to reflect a light, the plurality of sensing locations including a first sensing location and a second sensing location disposed at different regions of the optical fiber; receiving a reflected signal including the light reflected from the plurality of sensing locations over a selected time window; splitting the reflected signal into a plurality of constituent reflected signals including at least a first reflected signal and a second reflected signal, the first reflected signal and the second reflected signal having the same wavelength and modulation, the first reflected signal and the second reflected signal associated with the same selected time window and including a portion of the light reflected from the plurality of sensing locations; transmitting the first reflected signal to a first signal processor, and separately transmitting the second reflected signal to a second signal processor; combining the first reflected signal with a first reference signal by the first signal processor to generate a first combined signal associated with the first sensing location; combining the second reflected signal with a second reference signal by the second signal processor to generate a second combined signal associated with the second sensing location, the second reflected signal different than the first reflected signal, wherein the first signal processor and the second signal processor perform the combining of the first reflected signal with a first reference signal and the combining of the second reflected signal with a second reference signal in parallel and at least substantially simultaneously; and estimating a value of the parameter based on the combining of the first reflected signal with a first reference signal and the combining of the second reflected signal with a second reference signal, wherein said estimating includes determining a length and/or shape of a first region of the optical fiber associated with the first sensing location based on the first combined signal, and determining the length and/or shape of a second region of the optical fiber associated with the second sensing location based on the second combined signal.