Simultaneous OTDR Dynamic Range and Spatial Resolution Enhancement by Digital LFM Pulse and Short-Time FrFT

• Main Authors: Pu Zhang, Qiguang Feng, Wei Li, Qiang Zheng, You Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-02-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: fiber optic sensors; optical time domain reflectometry; Rayleigh scattering; digital chirping; short-time fractional Fourier transform
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/4/668

This paper proposes a novel optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) method based on the digital linear frequency modulation (LFM) pulse, which can achieve a tradeoff between maximum measurable distance and spatial resolution. Direct modulation and detection are adopted at the transmitting and receiving ends, respectively, which is simple in construction and does not require additional optics. The short-time fractional Fourier transform (STFrFT) is introduced for the signal processing and noise filtering. The theoretical analysis of the working principle confirmed that the spatial resolution is determined by the sweep frequency range of the digital LFM signal rather than the pulse width. The influence of the STFrFT window on the peak sidelobe ratio of the reflection peak is also studied. By combining STFrFT and sidelobe suppression, the dynamic range and spatial resolution can be appreciably enhanced simultaneously. In the demo experiments testing the proposed method on a conventional OTDR development board for comparison, a 7-dB improvement in the dynamic range and an approximately 10-times improvement in the spatial resolution are simultaneously achieved.