Patent ID: 8988669
Filing Date: 2015-03-24
Classification: G01J,G02B

Abstract:
1. An optical power monitoring device configured for determining optical power of an optical signal transmitted in an optical fiber core surrounded by a cladding comprising: a photo detector disposed in close proximity to the optical fiber cladding configured such that it measures optical power measurements of Rayleigh scattered light from the core of the optical fiber through the cladding; a cladding light stripper configured such that it removes light from the cladding to ensure only Rayleigh scattered light from the fiber core is measured by the photo detector; and a controller configured such that it converts the Rayleigh scattered light optical power measurements from the photo detector into optical power measurements for the optical signal based on a predetermined correlation function therebetween in the form of an equation or plot of the optical power measurements from the photo detector versus the optical power of the optical signal.