Patent ID: 7433045

Claim:
An interferometric sensor system, comprising: an optical source unit producing light in at least one wavelength channel, the source unit comprising a coherence modulator for modulating an output field phasor of each wavelength channel to produce a broadened optical source power spectrum; an optical network comprising optical pathways from the source unit to a detection unit, wherein at least one pair of the optical pathways form a sensor interferometer, the sensor interferometer having a sensor delay; a compensating interferometer arranged in a serially coupled manner with the optical network with optical pathways from its input to its output forming a delay, wherein autocorrelation of the source is substantially reduced for delays equal to one and two times the sensor delay relative to a maximum for delays within a spread of the deviation of the sensor delay from the delay of the compensating interferometer; the detection unit converting incoming light signals to output electrical signals; and a processor for analyzing the output electrical signals from the detection unit to extract information dependent on the phase of the sensor interferometer.