Patent ID: 9546886
Date: 2017-01-17
CPC Classifications: G01D,G01K,G01L,G02B

Claim:
1. A fiber optic sensor for use in environments containing fiber darkening agents, comprising: a length of multicore fiber or fiber optic cable; the multicore fiber or fiber optic cable contains a number of optical signal paths, wherein each path includes a sensing core segment and one or more transmission core segments; the sensing core segment in each optical signal path is configured to (i) produce optical perturbation signals at one or more locations along the segment, wherein the perturbation signals correspond to a certain environmental condition sensed by the segment at a corresponding location, and (ii) enable the perturbation signals to be detected for processing by measurement equipment coupled to the optical signal path when the path is excited by light signals from a given source; and the transmission core segments in the optical signal paths are such as to introduce little if any additional attenuation to light signals relative to the attenuation in the sensing core segments, after the sensor is exposed to certain darkening agents in the environment.