Patent ID: 7800047

Claim:
A fiber optic security system for detecting unauthorized activity in a protected area comprising: a fiber optic cable having an optical sensor line for transmitting and receiving scan signals; a fiber optic scanning unit connected to one end of said optical sensor line for transmitting scan signals outbound along said optical sensor line and said scanning unit receiving return scan signals reflected back along the same said optical sensor line; a system computer for receiving said return scan signals from said scanning unit and processing said return scan signals to determine the existence of a fault condition representing the unauthorized activity; a computer readable medium in communication with said computer; a computer program including computer readable instructions stored in said computer readable medium which includes, receiving instructions for receiving said return scan signals from said scanning unit at said computer, baseline initialization instructions for establishing a baseline signal of the sensor line based on initial information from said scan signals representing an undisturbed state of said sensor line, and storing said baseline signal in computer memory, monitoring instructions for monitoring said optical sensor line to automatically receive said returned scan signals from said scanning unit in real-time representing the condition of said optical sensor line in real-time, comparison instructions for determining if unauthorized activity has taken place based on a real-time comparison of said baseline signal and said return scan signals, fault instructions for generating a real-time fault signal in response to a predetermined change in one or more of said return scan signals representing a fault condition based on said real-time comparison indicating the unauthorized activity has taken place; evaluation instructions for processing the change in said return scan signal to determine the type of fault condition and location of the unauthorized activity that has occurred; and said computer outputting a warning in response to said fault signal to notify an attendant that the unauthorized activity has taken place.