Systems and methods for identifying locations of deployed fiber cables based on vibrations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11060950-B1
Application number	US-202016813257-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 9, 2020
Priority date	Mar 9, 2020
Publication date	Jul 13, 2021
Grant date	Jul 13, 2021

Abstract

A device may receive, from a sensor device, cable distance data identifying cable distances along a fiber cable to vibrations experienced by the fiber cable, and may receive location data identifying locations associated with the vibrations. The device may correlate the cable distance data and the location data to generate correlated location data, and may store the correlated location data in a data structure. The device may receive, from the sensor device, data identifying a cable distance along the fiber cable to an alarm condition associated with the fiber cable, and may determine a location of the alarm condition based on the correlated location data and the data identifying the cable distance along the fiber cable to the alarm condition. The device may perform actions based on the alarm location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a device and from a sensor device, cable distance data identifying at least one cable distance along a fiber cable to a corresponding at least one vibration experienced by the fiber cable,
wherein the at least one vibration is generated by a vibration device along a deployed route of the fiber cable;

receiving, by the device, location data identifying at least one location associated with the at least one vibration;
correlating, by the device, the cable distance data and the location data to generate correlated location data;
storing, by the device, the correlated location data in a data structure associated with the device;
receiving, by the device and from the sensor device, data identifying a cable distance along the fiber cable to an alarm condition associated with the fiber cable;
determining, by the device, a location of the alarm condition based on the correlated location data and the data identifying the cable distance along the fiber cable to the alarm condition; and
performing, by the device, one or more actions based on the location of the alarm condition,
wherein performing the one or more actions comprises:
providing directions to an autonomous vehicle based on the location of the alarm condition.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing directions to the autonomous vehicle based on the location of the alarm condition comprises one or more of:
providing directions to a ground autonomous vehicle to be dispatched for servicing the fiber cable; or
providing direction to an airborne autonomous vehicle to be dispatched for servicing the fiber cable.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the one or more actions comprises one or more of:
causing a technician to be dispatched for servicing the fiber cable;
causing an order for new fiber cable to be placed for repairing the fiber cable; or
redirecting network traffic from the fiber cable to another fiber cable.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the one or more actions comprises:
identifying another fiber cable that is operational and capable of receiving network traffic from the fiber cable; and
redirecting the network traffic from the fiber cable to the other fiber cable.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the one or more actions comprises:
determining the directions,
the directions being directions to the alarm condition based on the location of the alarm condition; and

providing the directions to the autonomous vehicle to enable the autonomous vehicle to be dispatched for servicing the fiber cable.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alarm condition is associated with one of a fiber cut in the fiber cable or a fault in the fiber cable.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing the cable distance data and the location data in the data structure associated with the device.

8. A device, comprising:
one or more memories; and
one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, configured to:
receive, from a sensor device, cable distance data identifying a measurement identifier and at least one cable distance along a fiber cable to a at least one vibration experienced by the fiber cable,
wherein the at least one vibration is generated by a vibration device along a deployed route of the fiber cable;

receive location data identifying the measurement identifier and at least one corresponding location associated with the at least one vibration;
correlate the cable distance data and the location data to generate correlated location data;
store the correlated location data in the one or more memories;
receive, from the sensor device, data identifying a cable distance along the fiber cable to an alarm condition associated with the fiber cable;
determine a location of the alarm condition based on the correlated location data and the data identifying the cable distance along the fiber cable to the alarm condition; and
perform one or more actions based on the location of the alarm condition,
wherein the one or more processors, when performing the one or more actions, are to:
provide directions to an autonomous vehicle based on the location of the alarm condition.

9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the sensor device includes a Rayleigh scattering-based distributed acoustic sensing device.

10. The device of claim 8 , wherein the vibration device includes a vibration exciter that produces a mechanical motion that produces a range of harmonic or time-dependent excitation forces or displacements through a range of frequencies.

11. The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors, when correlating the cable distance data and the location data to generate the correlated location data, are configured to:
correlate data identifying the at least one location associated with the at least one vibration and data identifying the at least one corresponding cable distance along the fiber cable to the at least one vibration to generate the correlated location data.

12. The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors, when performing the one or more actions, are configured to:
provide the location of the alarm condition,
wherein the location of the alarm condition includes a geographic location and a distance from the geographic location.

13. The device of claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive, from the sensor device, updated cable distance data identifying at least one updated cable distance along the fiber cable to at least one new vibration experienced by the fiber cable;
receive updated location data identifying at least one updated location associated with the at least one new vibration;
correlate the updated cable distance data and the updated location data to generate updated correlated location data; and
replace the correlated location data with the updated correlated location data.

14. The device of claim 8 , wherein the sensor device includes an optoelectronic device that communicates with the fiber cable and detects the at least one vibration experienced by the fiber cable.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:
one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the one or more processors to:
receive, from a sensor device, cable distance data identifying at least one cable distance along a fiber cable to a corresponding at least one vibration experienced by the fiber cable,
wherein the at least one vibration is generated by a vibration device along a deployed route of the fiber cable;

receive location data identifying at least one location associated with the at least one vibration;
correlate the cable distance data and the location data to generate correlated location data;
store the correlated location data in a data structure associated with the device;
receive, from the sensor device, data identifying a cable distance along the fiber cable to an alarm condition associated with the fiber cable;
determine a location of the alarm condition based on the correlated location data and the data identifying the cable distance along the fiber cable to the alarm condition; and
cause one or more of a ground autonomous vehicle or an airborne autonomous vehicle to be dispatched for servicing the fiber cable based on the location of the alarm condition.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further comprise:
one or more instructions that, when exe

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc
• Nec Lab America Inc

Inventors

• Xia Tiejun J
• Wellbrock Glenn A
• Wang Ting
• Huang Ming-Fang

Classifications

• G02B6/50

  Underground or underwater installation; Installation through tubing, conduits or ducts · CPC title

• G01M11/3145 Primary

  Details of the optoelectronics or data analysis · CPC title

• G01H9/004 Primary

  using fibre optic sensors (light guides per se G02B6/00, acousto-optical devices specially adapted for gating or modulating in optical wave guides G02F1/125) · CPC title

• G02B6/564

  Repair sets · CPC title

• G01M11/3109

  Reflectometers detecting the back-scattered light in the time-domain, e.g. OTDR · CPC title