Josef Vojtech, Guy Roberts, Tomas Novak, Michal Spacek, Elisabeth Andriantsarazo, Vladimir Smotlacha, Ondrej Havlis, Tomas Horvath, Rudolf Vohnout, Martin Slapak, Jaroslav Roztocil, Susanne Naegele-Jackson, Domenico Vicinanza, Harald Schnatz, Jochen Kronjaeger, Jacques-Olivier Gaudron, Krzysztof Turza
GÉANT Association aims to establish a fibre infrastructure for the distribution of time and frequency throughout Europe, with the implementation planned within the Horizon Europe GN5-2 funding cycle. These new fibre links will complement existing connections performing predominantly coherent optical frequency transfers, forming a basis of comprehensive Europe-wide infrastructure. This presentation will explore how this emerging fibre network will facilitate novel scientific research initiatives in Europe.
Moreover, the development of a pan-European fibre infrastructure will unlock opportunities for pioneering research in applied and fundamental science. This encompasses studies such as geodesy e.g. for underground water monitoring or unification of height systems across Europe, earthquake monitoring, the search for dark matter, and urban activity surveillance.
Hollow-core fibers (HCF) are increasingly being studied and evaluated for telecommunication, as well as sensing application. They seem to have many advantages compare to standard single-mode fibers (SMF), especially in the area of the cyber-security of optical fiber infrastructures and also information they carrying. In our research we mainly focus on cyber-security issues, especially acoustic sensing. In the paper we evaluate sensitivity of negative curve HCF using a Mach–Zehnder interferometry (MZI). Results are compared with SMF (G.657 in this case). Both fibers were in primary coating with similar length. Sensitivity measurements were conducted within the controlled environment of an anechoic chamber. Results show that both fibers are sensitive to acoustic vibration and with post-processing method based on de-noising of the measured signal, the sensitivity can be improved. The clarity of the captured speech signal was assessed using the Speech Transmission Index for Public Address (STIPA).
The paper introduces an innovative object classification method for urban environments, employing distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) to address the complexities of urban landscapes. Utilizing omnipresent optical telecommunication cables, our approach involves a modified convolutional neural network (CNN) with transfer learning, achieving up to 85% accuracy. This method reuses most of the original network for feature extraction, with a final layer customized for new urban datasets – initially trained at the Brno University of Technology and then adapted to city center data. The model effectively identifies urban elements like vehicles and pedestrians, showcasing the potential of DAS for real-time classification in urban management and planning.
In the ever-advancing realm of modern technology, the demand for unparalleled precision and stability in timekeeping and frequency control has surged to unprecedented heights. As our interconnected world rellies more than ever on intricate synchronization and seamless communication, the development of cutting-edge optical infrastructure has emerged as a cornerstone in meeting these exacting demands. There has been obvious increased continuous focus on precise time and frequency transmission dissemination at a national and international level recently. We would like to present the situation in the Czech Republic, our strategy, approach, and our experience with a non-commercial, costeffective solution that utilizes optical networks shared with other traffic. The presented solution provides accurate time and stable frequency at a lower operational cost, using the shared spectrum of the CESNET3 network infrastructure.
The main topic of this paper is the detection state of polarization changes to enhance data security in fiber cable paths. The changes are generated by fiber manipulation or movements, which suggest potential security threats. Our designed system detects these changes using a polarization beam splitter and a pair of photodetectors. The values are subtracted from each other, sampled, and sent for analysis. The software detector applies FFT onto the signal and normalizes the output. The last step compares the sum of the bottom eighth of the spectrum against the threshold.
KEYWORDS: Sensors, Polarization, Data acquisition, Fiber optics sensors, Optical fibers, Time division multiplexing, Telecommunications, Photodetectors, Single mode fibers, Signal attenuation
The paper describes the possibilities of using the detection of fast and slow changes in the state of polarization for the detection of vibrations by an optical single-mode (SM) fiber. The system consists of a polarization beam splitter and a balanced photodetector. This sensing system is cost-effective, which contributes to its use in real operation. On the basis of an experiment with buried fiber near the railroad, the possibility of detecting vibrations with this system was proved. It is possible with simple analyzes to recognize the types of trains and their speed.
Precise time and ultra-stable optical frequency transfers over fiber networks are deployed relatively often these days. When size of such infrastructure for precise time and frequency bidirectional transmission is becoming significant, aspects associated with infrastructure operational cost and time needed for deployment of time and frequency transmission must be considered. First can be decreased via fiber sharing with telecommunication traffic, however spectral allocation must be considered carefully to avoid mutual disturbance of time and frequency transmission versus data and allow future accommodation of growing demands. In text, we show and discuss alternative spectral bands to be used for time and frequency transmission. Time to deployment can be quite excessive especially when transmission must be established via multiple networks or network domains, also there is a chance of blocking. In case of precise time and optical radio frequency transmission it is possible to use conversion from optical to electrical and back to optical domain with wavelength change. This possibility removes danger of blocking and improves time to deployment for such services. We also address possibility to change wavelength or just extend reach by using simple re-amplify and reshape approach.
Article summarizes past and continuous development, and especially current state of Czech national research infrastructure for Clock Network Services and future development plans. The focus is on used transmission means and stabilization techniques, available and planned wavelength bands and also plans for geographic extensions.
Optical fibers are becoming commonly used beside data transmissions for dissemination of ultra-precise and stable quantities or alternatively as distributed sensors of for example acoustic and mechanic vibrations, seismic waves, temperature etc. There have been developed methods for these transfers and their stabilization, allowing thus to achieve excellent performances. Such performance is bound with utilization of single physical medium for both ways of propagation. These methods are attractive both for very high-performance applications and as a secure alternative complementary to radio and satellite-based transfer methods. From economical point of view, sharing fibers with regular data traffic is an advantage, especially for longer distances and large infrastructures. Unfortunately, the most often used wavelengths are located almost in the middle of telecommunication band. Due to continuous data traffic growth and utilization of flexible spectral allocation, the collision in wavelength plan will occur more and more often. In this paper we overview alternative wavelengths suitable for these transfers, we also propose suitable methods for all-optical reach extension, by all-optical amplification. Shared line design allowing transfer of ultra-stable quantities in three different spectral bands is proposed and such design is evaluated.
The reach of any all-optical transmission is limited by attenuation of transmission path and other factors as signal to noise ratio, and it can be extended by all-optical amplification. Bidirectional single fibre transmission introduces an issue of bidirectional symmetrical amplifiers in order not to lose advantage of path symmetry. In case of time transfer, quasibidirectional amplification might be acceptable when supported by specific arrangements, e.g. as much as possible equal arrangement for disjoint segments of the path. Time transfer with best available accuracy or optical frequency transfers require single path optical amplifiers that are further considered. In this constitution, unfortunately, reflections together with Rayleigh back-scattering will create feedback. In case feedback is strong enough and discrete amplifier operates in high gain regime (about 20dB), the whole system will start to oscillate. It saturates the gain of amplifiers and also can generate errors, when lasing in a transmission band. In the article, we review possible all optical amplification methods including those allowing to use untraditional transmission bands (outside C band).
Long distance precise frequency and accurate time transfer methods based on optical fiber links have evolved rapidly in recent years, demonstrating excellent performance. They are attractive both for very high-performance applications and as a secure alternative complement to radio- and satellite-based methods. In this paper, we present development of infrastructure for such transmission containing 700+km of transmission lines, with planned cross border optical frequency connectivity. According to our knowledge, this will be the third such line globally. The infrastructure also shares fibers with existing data transmissions, both amplitude and phase modulated, which poses high demands on mutual isolation and insensitivity to cross talks.
In this paper, we propose and present verification of all-optical methods for stabilization of the end-to-end delay of an optical fiber link. These methods are verified for deployment within infrastructure for accurate time and stable frequency distribution, based on sharing of fibers with research and educational network carrying live data traffic. Methods range from path length control, through temperature conditioning method to transmit wavelength control. Attention is given to achieve continuous control for relatively broad range of delays. We summarize design rules for delay stabilization based on the character and the total delay jitter.
Currently, fibre networks are only way how to satisfy the ever growing needs for more bandwidth. Thanks to that the optical fibre can be found almost anywhere and new applications and services can be transmitted through the networks. Accurate time transfer, ultra-stable frequency transfer and fibre-optic sensors networks have been rather common. High speed data transmission, time and frequency transmission, and fibre-optic sensors must share the common fibre-optic infrastructure because it would not be economically feasible to build separate fibre networks for long distances. Each system has individual transmission requirements and is prone to another type of interference. Data transmission systems based on DP-QPSK or DP-xQAM use digital signal processing for signal recovering but it cannot fully compensate signal degradation due to polarization dependent loss and nonlinear effects which are the most dominant sources of signal degradation. Accurate time signals are slow and often OOK modulated, therefore may experience the degrading effect of chromatic dispersion. Ultra-stable frequency signals are not modulated at all information transmitted is the frequency of photons and such signals are continuous wave, but they suffer from phase noise also environmentally introduced, e.g. by vibrations. For phase sensitive OTDR sensor systems the high power pulses are necessary to use which may cause interference with other signals. For this reason, parallel and simultaneous transmission in DWDM spectral grids of standard data, time, frequency, and sensing signals is rather new and unexplored area of research.
The infrastructure essentialities for accurate time and stable frequency distribution are presented. Our solution is based on sharing fibers for a research and educational network carrying live data traffic with time and frequency transfer in parallel. Accurate time and stable frequency transmission uses mainly dark channels amplified by dedicated bidirectional amplifiers with the same propagation path for both directions of transmission. This paper targets challenges related to bidirectional transmission, particularly, directional nonreciprocities.
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