Fiber Optic Installation to Monitor Pipelines in Real-Time

SoCalGas Breaks Ground on Innovative Fiber Optic Installation to Monitor Pipelines in Real-Time

Early warning sensors will help prevent pipeline damage from unauthorized construction work and detect leaks.

Dec 13, 2017

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced it has broken ground on a first-of-its kind, fiber optic cable installation that will allow the company to monitor the condition of its high-pressure transmission pipelines in real-time. The fiber optic technology is being installed along a new, seven-mile section of natural gas pipeline in Bakersfield, California and will serve as an early warning system to detect unauthorized construction work that could damage the pipeline and changes in pressure in the line that could indicate a leak. Photos of the technology from today's installation are available here.

"SoCalGas is committed to modernizing our infrastructure to enhance safety for our customers and reduce our carbon footprint," said Deanna Haines, director of gas engineering for SoCalGas. "This technology provides our engineers with a critical early warning system that can prevent damage to our lines and help us mitigate leaks more quickly."

"Having real-time information on the status of high-pressure pipelines is critical in the early detection of a potential problem," said Brian Marshall, Kern County Fire Chief. "Firefighters will be able to respond quickly to an emergency and work with SoCal Gas to stop the problem from escalating."

The technology uses fiber optic cables that run along a pipeline and that transmit data across long distances. The system operates on the principle that light signals vary when a fiber optic cable is exposed to vibration, stress, or abnormal changes in temperature – all indicators of a possible natural gas leak or an impact to a natural gas line. The fiber optic system can pinpoint within 20 feet where a potential problem may be developing.

When a threat is detected, information is sent along the fiber cable to a remote monitoring station within seconds, where operators interpret signal changes to determine the source of potential intrusions including, heavy equipment operation, unexpected earth movement, or other physical impacts like structural stress from broken water mains.

Access to continuous, real-time measurements and area-specific data can give SoCalGas crews and first responders more time to plan, allocate resources, and take effective actions to mitigate potential leaks and damage to pipelines.

SoCalGas is one of the first natural gas utilities in the country to use the technology in natural gas transmission and high-pressure pipeline system operations. The company plans to install fiber optic cable along all new and replacement pipeline segments 12 inches and greater in diameter and one-mile long.

Incorporating fiber optics into its transmission pipeline and distribution systems is part of SoCalGas' commitment to upgrading and modernizing its more than 101,000 miles of natural gas pipelines in order to provide customers with the safe, reliable, and affordable energy they deserve.

About SoCalGas

Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States, providing clean, safe, affordable and reliable natural gas service to 21.7 million customers in Central and Southern California. Its service territory spans 22,000 square miles from Fresno to the Mexican border, reaching more than 550 communities through 5.9 million meters and 101,000 miles of pipeline. More than 90 percent of Southern California single-family home residents use natural gas for home heat and hot water. In addition, natural gas plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians—about 60 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants. 

SoCalGas has served communities in California for 150 years and is committed to being a leader in the region's clean energy future. The company has committed to spending $6 billion over the next five years to modernize and upgrade its gas infrastructure, while also reducing methane emissions. SoCalGas is working to accelerate the use of renewable natural gas, a carbon-neutral or carbon-negative fuel created by capturing and conditioning greenhouse gas emissions from farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. The company is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.

About Southern California Gas Co.: Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has been delivering clean, safe and reliable natural gas to its customers for more than 145 years. It is the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility, providing service to 21.6 million consumers connected through 5.9 million meters in more than 500 communities. The company's service territory encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles throughout central and Southern California, from Visalia to the Mexican border. SoCalGas is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.

 Source Link: https://sempra.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=19080&item=137390

North America Outside Plant Fiber Optic Installation Apparatus Market Forecast (2017-2027)

Study Release:                     December 4, 2017

PDF File:                               125 pages  – PDF

Excel File:                              Market Forecast Database

PowerPoint File:                 Summary Data Figures

Delivery:                                 Files sent by E-mail 

Consultant Service: Fee-based Market Study:

Contact:  Ms. Theresa Hosking at: thosking@electronicastconsultants.com

Market Research Study – Consultant Services: Description

This report provides estimates and forecasts, based on market research study work performed by ElectroniCast Consultants.

This report on our market study provides a comprehensive market forecast of the North America regional consumption of selected products, which are used in outside plant fiber optic installation apparatus (FOIA). Profiles of selected vendors of products for fiber optic installation apparatus are also provided, as well as our estimates of the 2017 market share for leading vendors.

The 2017-2027 market forecast data presented in this study report are segmented into the following geographic sections, plus a (total) North America summary:

·        The North American Region

o       United States of America (USA)

o       Rest of North America (Canada and Mexico – Combined)

The forecast for each product-level is presented by function:

• Consumption Value ($, Million)
• Number of Units (Quantity in 1,000)
• Average Selling Prices ($, each)

Also, the ElectroniCast fiber optic installation apparatus products market forecast data are built up from specific application, as shown below, as well as from selected product-type segments.

• Telecommunications/Multimedia                                                                        
• Private Data Networks
• Cable TV/Multimedia                                                                                                                                                                       

Product Category List              Service providers that provide landline telephony are considered in the Telecommunications category, even if they also provide Internet, Cable TV, as well as mobile/cell phone service; service providers that offer mobile/cell phone service (only) are considered in the Telecommunications application category.  Service providers that provide Cable TV and/or Internet and (plus) mobile/cell phone service are considered in the Cable TV/Multimedia application category. Companies that provide Internet (only) are considered in the Cable TV/Multimedia category.

Outside Plant – Forecast Data Base Structure

Fiber Optic Installation Apparatus – Product Category List

Outside Plant                                               

Cable Splice Closure                                 

Aerial Mount                       

<12 Fibers           

12-<96 Fibers           

>96-216 Fibers           

>216 Fibers           

Pole/Wall/Pedestal Mount           

<12 Fibers           

12-<96 Fibers           

>96-216 Fibers           

>216 Fibers

Tunnel/Duct & Direct Buried           

<12 Fibers           

12-<96 Fibers           

>96-216 Fibers           

>216 Fibers

Cable & Fiber Management                       

Above Ground

                        4 Ports or Less

>4 Ports           

Below Grade

                        4 or Ports or Less

>4 Ports           

Dark Fiber: Using Sensors Beneath Our Feet to Tell Us About Earthquakes, Water, and Other Geophysical Phenomenon

December 5th, 2017

Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have shown for the first time that dark fiber – the vast network of unused fiber-optic cables installed throughout the country and the world – can be used as sensors for detecting earthquakes, the presence of groundwater, changes in permafrost conditions, and a variety of other subsurface activity.

See entire article at Source Link: 

Dark Fiber: Using Sensors Beneath Our Feet to Tell Us About Earthquakes, Water, and Other Geophysical Phenomenon

Miniature fibre optic probe for minimally invasive photoacoustic sensing

Mathews, SJ; Zhang, EZ; Desjardins, AE; Beard, PC; (2016) Miniature fibre optic probe for minimally invasive photoacoustic sensing. Presented at: Conference on Photons Plus Ultrasound - Imaging and Sensing, San Francisco, CA.

More Information at the following Link: DOI:             10.1117/12.2211661

Source Link: 

http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1489680/

Spanish Service Provider Aire Networks

Embraces New Ekinops FlexRate Solution

Reduces size, power needs, and cost of 100G/200G transport

PARIS, December 5, 2017 – Ekinops has introduced two new flexible rate line modules that lower the cost of optical transport while improving network efficiency and flexibility. A major Spanish wholesale operator is one of the first customers to deploy this new solution.

The two new modules – the PM 200FRS02 and PM 200FRS02-SF – are the latest advanced networking solutions from Ekinops, a leading supplier of next-generation optical network equipment.

With the new modules, service providers can reduce their capital and operational costs and improve the business case for deploying new capacity. Their small form factor provides operational savings with the ability to fit up to 1.2 terabits per second of capacity in only two rack units. That minimizes space requirements while using less than half the power per gigabit of competitive offerings.

In addition, the PM 200FRS02-SF provides single fiber operation, giving service providers the option of cutting fiber costs in half. This single fiber capability was key for Aire Networks, Spain’s fourth largest wholesale operator. It is now using the Ekinops modules in its 27,000-kilometer fiber network that covers 90 percent of the country.

Aire Networks has seen its traffic double in the first three quarters of 2017 and sought to improve network operations while keeping operational expenses as low as possible. What the service provider really wanted was a solution that would offer 200G transmission in single fiber mode and guarantee scalability for the future, and Ekinops offered the best solution to meet its requirements.

 “Not only did Ekinops offer exactly what Aire Networks needed, they moved quickly to provide the solution to us and were flexible and easy to work with at every step of the way,” said Raúl Aledo Coy, CEO of Aire Networks.

 “We have been able to reduce the form factor in these new modules by a factor of three while reducing power requirements by a factor of two. That delivers an order of magnitude improvement in service density and network cost, key factors for Aire Networks and for other Ekinops customers when it comes to profitability,” said Mark Burton, EMEA Vice President of Sales at Ekinops. “This demonstrates Ekinops’ continued commitment to providing our customers the most efficient and flexible optical transport solutions.”

Both the PM 200FRS02 and PM 200FRS02-SF modules employ dual QSFP28 client ports with software-selectable line side modulation that can be provisioned as either DP-QPSK or 16QAM to create 100G or 200G transport links. These new generation modules provide enhanced functionality in one-third the space of previous equipment, occupying only a single slot in an Ekinops 360 chassis, for three times the capacity per shelf.

By selecting the modulation format that best meets an operator’s capacity and distance requirements, the PM 200FRS02 and PM 200FRS02-SF can support any metro, regional or long-haul application including converged metro transport, data center interconnection (DCI), mobile backhaul, enterprise connectivity and submarine transport.

Ekinops is also adding to the flexibility of the modules by introducing the PM 100G-AGG companion card for multiplexing up to ten 10G multiprotocol client services into a G.709 standard OTU4 that connects to one client port on the PM 200FRS02 or PM 200FRS02-SF. This modular approach allows 10G services to be carried efficiently over 100G or 200G links and allows the service provider to combine both 10G and 100G clients on a single 200G link for greater resource utilization and bandwidth efficiency.

About Ekinops

Ekinops is a leading provider of open, fully interoperable Layer 1, 2 and 3 solutions to service providers around the world. Our programmable and highly scalable solutions enable fast, flexible and cost-effective deployment of new services for high-speed, high-capacity optical transport as well as virtualization-enabled managed enterprise services. Our product portfolio consists of two highly complementary product sets. One, under the Ekinops 360 brand name, provides a single, fully integrated platform for metro, regional, and long-haul applications. The other, under the OneAccess brand name, provides physical and virtualized deployment options for Layer 2 and 3 network functions. As service providers embrace SDN and NFV deployment models, Ekinops’ solutions enable them to deploy today and seamlessly migrate to an open virtualized delivery model at a time of their choosing. A global organization with operations in 4 continents, Ekinops (EKI) - a public company traded on the Euronext Paris exchange - is headquartered in Lannion, France, and Ekinops Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary, is incorporated in the USA. For more information, visit www.ekinops.net

Outside Plant Fiber Optic Installation Apparatus Market Forecast

According to ElectroniCast Consultants, the North American use of OSP fiber optic installation apparatus is forecast to reach $276 million in 2017… 

 

Aptos, CA (USA) – December 5, 2017 -- ElectroniCast Consultants, a leading market and technology research consultancy addressing the fiber optics communications industry, today announced the release of their market research study covering selected products used in Outside Plant (OSP) fiber optic installation apparatus (FOIA) used in North America.

The consumption value of the selected Outside Plant (OSP) fiber optic installation apparatus (FOIA) products in the North America region is expected to reach $276 million this year in 2017; forecasted to increase to $423.2 million in the year 2027.  Market forecast data in this study report refers to consumption (use) for a particular calendar year; therefore, this data is not cumulative data.

The United States of America is forecast to dominate in the leadership position, expanding at an average annual growth rate of 5.8 percent in the 1^st-half of the forecast period (2017-2022).

According to ElectroniCast, as optical fiber use migrates closer and closer to the end user, the requirements for jointing fibers becomes more critical. Inside plant and outside plant fiber optic installation apparatus (FOIA), which includes splicing and cable assemblies (cable/connectors), distribution boxes/panels/ frames, patch panels, splice closures, fiber management cabinets/boxes and several passive optical components used in the installation apparatus play a significant role in a network’s cost and performance. Typically, fusion splices and to some extent mechanical splices are used where the need to frequently connect and disconnect is not a requirement. Connectors are typically used in applications where flexibility for routing or reconfiguring is necessary. 

The Telecommunications/Multimedia application is forecast for steady annual growth from an expected $252 million in 2017 for the selected OSP equipment covered in this market study.  The forecasted growth is mainly driven by access fiber deployment (FTTx) and higher transfer rates for in metro initiatives. 

This market forecast report is available immediately from ElectroniCast Consultants. For detailed information on this or other services provided by ElectroniCast, please contact Theresa Hosking, Marketing/Sales; thosking@electronicastconsultants.com  

(Telephone/USA: 831-708-2381)

ElectroniCast Consultants – www.electronicast.com specializes in forecasting trends in technology forecasting, markets and applications forecasting, strategic planning and consulting. ElectroniCast Consultants, as a technology-based independent forecasting firm, serves industrial companies, trade associations, government agencies, communication and data network companies and the financial community.  Reduction of the risk of major investment decisions is the main benefit provided.  ElectroniCast Consultants’ goal is to understand the challenges and opportunities facing clients and to provide timely, accurate information for strategic planning.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Ayar Labs Establish Strategic Collaboration to Speed Up Data Center Applications

Collaboration to push the limits of chip technology, extending optical circuits to meet rising demands in bandwidth and data center connectivity

Santa Clara and San Francisco, Calif., Dec. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Ayar Labs, a startup bringing optical input/output (I/O) to silicon chips, today announced a strategic collaboration to co-develop and commercialize differentiated silicon photonic technology solutions. The companies will develop and manufacture Ayar’s novel CMOS optical I/O technology, using GF’s 45nm CMOS fabrication process, to deliver an alternative to copper I/O that offers up to 10x higher bandwidth and up to 5x lower power. This cost-effective solution is integrated in-package with customer ASICs as a multi-chip module, and improves data speed and energy efficiency in cloud servers, datacenters and supercomputers. As part of the agreement, GF has also invested an undisclosed amount in Ayar Labs.

Ayar Labs is replacing copper with optical I/O from silicon chips to improve speed and energy efficiency in computing by removing bottlenecks in moving data. The company was formed by the inventors of the first microprocessor chip to communicate using light at MIT, UC Berkeley, and CU Boulder, a breakthrough that was the result of a 10-year research collaboration funded by DARPA. For more information, visit www.ayarlabs.com.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES is a leading full-service semiconductor foundry providing a unique combination of design, development, and fabrication services to some of the world’s most inspired technology companies. With a global manufacturing footprint spanning three continents, GLOBALFOUNDRIES makes possible the technologies and systems that transform industries and give customers the power to shape their markets. GLOBALFOUNDRIES is owned by Mubadala Investment Company. For more information, visit http://www.globalfoundries.com.

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e9638b83-44e0-4b99-bb10-14ea840d5a15

See Entire Article at Source Link:
 https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/12/04/1220033/0/en/GLOBALFOUNDRIES-and-Ayar-Labs-Establish-Strategic-Collaboration-to-Speed-Up-Data-Center-Applications.html

Active Fast Light Fiber Optic Sensor (AFLIFOS)

Fast-Light Enhanced Brillouin Laser Based Active Fiber Optic Sensor for Simultaneous Measurement of Rotation and Strain

Minchuan Zhou, Zifan Zhou, Mohamed Fouda, Nicholas Condon, Jacob Scheuer, and Selim M. Shahriar

Journal of Lightwave Technology Vol. 35, Issue 23, pp. 5222-5229 (2017)

About this Article

History

        Original Manuscript: February 28, 2017

        Manuscript Accepted: October 29, 2017

        Published: November 1, 2017

Abstract

We have developed a conceptual design for an active fast light fiber optic sensor (AFLIFOS) that can perform simultaneously or separately as a gyroscope (differential mode effect) and as a sensor for strain and other common mode effects. Two Brillouin lasers in opposite directions and separated in frequency by several free spectral ranges are used for this sensor.

See article at Source Link:  https://www.osapublishing.org/jlt/abstract.cfm?uri=jlt-35-23-5222

AFL Launches Debris Destroyer™ Fiber Cleaning Pen

11/27/2017

Lowell, MA and Spartanburg, SC – AFL released the FCC3 Debris Destroyer pen, a tool ideal for cleaning fiber optic connectors, adapter sleeves, optical distribution frame bulkheads and bare fibers in preparation for fusion splicing. In combination with wipes, tips and sticks, the pen works to remove connector end-face contaminants such as dirt, dust, oil and other debris, and eliminates electrostatic charge.

The Debris Destroyer pen is saturated with 99 percent pure, medical grade isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to dissolve tough endface and bare fiber contaminants. It is recommended for use with the One-Click® family of pen cleaners, FiberWipes™, CCT Connector Cleaning Tips, CLETOP Adapter Cleaning Sticks, CLETOP cassette cleaners and OPTIPOP cassette cleaners.

“For the most stubborn fiber cleaning tasks, AFL recommends a wet clean followed by a dry clean as best practice standard operating procedure,” explained Maury Wood, senior product manager for AFL’s Test & Inspection division. “Using the Debris Destroyer in conjunction with AFL’s other fiber cleaning products provides the strength to clean any endface contamination challenge.”

AFL offers a host of cleaners and cleaning kits. For additional information about AFL, its full array of test and inspection products, visit www.AFLglobal.com.

About AFL
Founded in 1984, AFL is an international manufacturer providing end-to-end solutions to the energy, service provider, enterprise and industrial markets as well as several emerging markets. The company’s products are in use in over 130 countries and include fiber optic cable and hardware, transmission and substation accessories, outside plant equipment, connectivity, test and inspection equipment, fusion splicers and training. AFL also offers a wide variety of services supporting data center, enterprise, wireless and outside plant applications.

Headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, AFL has operations in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fujikura Ltd. of Japan. For more information, visit www.AFLglobal.com.

Contacts
Maury Wood
Senior Product Manager, Test & Inspection
AFL
978.455.9278
Maury.Wood@AFLglobal.com 

Illumination: Fibre optic lighting in signs and displays

By Stephen Montgomery

Fibre optics may be best-known to the public for their broad use in residential Internet and other telecommunications services, as they can transmit more data across longer distances than copper- or wire-based cabling. They are also increasingly being implemented for lighting applications, however, including sign and display illumination.

An optical fibre is a thin and flexible tube, made of either glass or plastic, that can carry light from one end to the other. It may be installed inside a cable jacket or externally from a cable (i.e. ‘individually’).

Fibre optic lighting has proven practical for a wide range of industrial, automotive, military, aerospace, medical and scientific uses, but has also found its way into store display cases, swimming pools and spas, landscaping, offices, casinos, holiday decorations, toys and consumer products. Indeed, research shows the overall value of the worldwide market for fibre optic lighting grew to US$312 million in 2016.

While the use of fibre optics in signage is still in its infancy, this could change quickly. The process of assembling, testing and manufacturing fibre optic lighting products already allows for mass production capabilities. Over the next few years, the average prices of these products will be driven lower by these production efficiencies, as well as by quality controls, higher yields, greater competition (in terms of both markets and technologies), improvements in sales, marketing and distribution and other factors. As such, the technology will move on from the ‘development’ and ‘introduction’ stages in the sign industry and into the ‘growth’ stage of its product life cycle (PLC).

See Entire article at Source Link:

https://www.signmedia.ca/illumination-fibre-optic-lighting-in-signs-and-displays/

Experimental long-distance quantum secure direct communication Author links open overlay

Source Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2017.10.023

Abstract

Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) is an important quantum communication branch, which realizes the secure information transmission directly without encryption and decryption processes.

Recently, two table-top experiments have demonstrated the principle of QSDC. Here, we report the first long-distance QSDC experiment, including the security test, information encoding, fiber transmission and decoding. After the fiber transmission of 0.5 km, quantum state fidelities of the two polarization entangled Bell states are 91% and 88%, respectively, which are used for information coding. We theoretically analyze the performance of the QSDC system based on current optical communication technologies, showing that QSDC over fiber links of several tens kilometers could be expected. It demonstrates the potential of long-distance QSDC and supports its future applications on quantum communication networks.

Diffraction Gratings for Optical Communication - Shimadzu

Diffraction Gratings for optical communication are the components, which take a key role in communication network system in the long term, and high reliability is demanded of them.

These products have passed test in accordance with the Telcordia GR-1221-CORE which is required for the passive optical components.

These are Au (gold) coated replica gratings from master diffraction gratings manufactured by using high accuracy two-beam interference. These have high relative diffraction efficiency for TM-polarized light (Vibration of electric field oriented perpendicular to the direction of the grating grooves) and are suitable for optical communication, industrial measurement across near infrared spectral regions which high performance and environment resistance are required.

Source Link:

 https://www.shimadzu.com/opt/products/dif/o-k25cur00000064rf.html

OFC – 2018

The Optical Networking and Communication Conference & Exhibition

Technical Conference:

    11 – 15 March 2018

Exhibition:

    13 – 15 March 2018

San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California, USA

The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) is the largest global conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking professionals. For over 40 years, OFC has drawn attendees from all corners of the globe to meet and greet, teach and learn, make connections and move business forward.

ElectroniCast will be assisting at the Test/Measurement -  TM Center at OFC... 

Contact Theresa Hosking at ElectroniCast for more information regarding the TM Center, which will be at OFC

thosking@electronicastconsultants.com

www.electronicast.com

OFC Link: http://www.ofcconference.org/en-us/home/about/

China optical communication market is increasing

China optical communication market is increasing

Source: Digitimes

After having experienced sluggish sales for more than one year, the China optical communication market is gradually gaining growth momentum, promoting customers there to place short lead-time orders with Taiwan suppliers of optical communication products to replenish their depleting inventories ---

   

See Source Link (Digitimes): http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20171201PD203.html

Augusta Announces Results for the Third Quarter and Corporate Update

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 30, 2017) - Augusta Industries Inc. (TSXV: AAO) (the "Corporation") is pleased to announce that it has released its financial results for the nine months ending September 30, 2017.

For the three months ending September 30, 2017, the Corporation had revenues of $650,000 as compared to $1,479,000 during the three months ending September 30, 2016. Marcon group backlog sales as on the date of the MD&A is $1,988,000. Four of the backlog orders worth $1,723,000 have a long delivery lead time. The Corporation also expects to build on the two contracts signed in 2017 by FOX-TEK worth $1,039,000 over a three year period.

About the Corporation:

Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, Marcon International Inc. ("Marcon") and Fox-Tek Canada Inc. ("Fox-Tek"), the Corporation provides a variety of services and products to a number of clients.

Marcon is an industrial supply contractor servicing the energy sector and a number of US Government entities. Marcon's principal business is the sale and distribution of industrial parts and equipment (Electrical, mechanical and Instrumentation.) In addition to departments and agencies of the U.S. Government, Marcon's major clients include Saudi Arabia-Sabic Services (Refining and Petrochemical), Bahrain National Gas Co, Bahrain Petroleum, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Gas, Qatar Petrochemical, Gulf of Suez Petroleum, Agiba Petroleum and Burullus Gas Co.

Fox Tek develops non-intrusive asset health monitoring sensor systems for the oil and gas market to help operators track the thinning of pipelines and refinery vessels due to corrosion/erosion, strain due to bending/buckling and process pressure and temperature. The Corporation's FT fiber optic sensor and corrosion monitoring systems allow cost-effective, 24/7 remote monitoring capabilities to improve scheduled maintenance operations, avoid unnecessary shutdowns, and prevent accidents and leaks.

More information at Source Link:
https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/30904/Augusta-Announces-Results-for-the-Third-Quarter-and-Corporate-Update#.WiBFzrjlu_g

Chip-based sensors with incredible sensitivity

Source:

Penn State

 

Summary:

In London's St. Paul's Cathedral, a whisper can be heard far across the circular whispering gallery as the sound curves around the walls. Now, an optical whispering gallery mode resonator can spin light around the circumference of a tiny sphere millions of times, creating an ultrasensitive microchip-based sensor for multiple applications. 

 

See entire article at Source Link:  

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171102121005.htm

Drastically cut energy use and increase the speed of optical communications

QMUL spin out receives investment to develop energy-saving optical communications technology

A Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) spin out company has received investment to commercialise a new material technology which would both drastically cut energy use and increase the speed of optical communications.

Source Link:  http://www.qmul.ac.uk/media/news/2017/se/qmul-spin-out-receives-investment-to-develop-energy-saving-optical-communications-technology.html

2 November 2017

inShare

Professor William Gillin

Chromosol, founded by Professor William Gillin, will develop technology to allow the manipulation of light directly on silicon chips, allowing them to communicate via pulses of light rather than electrical signals.

This would make communication between chips very fast whilst also reducing the power consumption.

The idea has been backed by IP Group, a developer of intellectual property-based businesses, which will work closely with QMUL throughout the development with the provision of both commercial expertise and financing.

Professor Gillin, Director of the Materials Research Institute at QMUL, said: “We’re delighted IP Group is supporting Chromosol and we look forward to working closely with them to commercialise our work.”

“Chromosol’s technology is easy to integrate and is compatible with the existing processing techniques, providing a simple solution to a growing problem.”

Data centre energy use

The technology could have a big impact on the energy use of data centres – large groups of networked computer servers typically used by organisations like Google and Facebook for remote storage and processing huge amounts of data.

Traditional copper cables, used for transferring data electrically, are stifling both data centre evolution and high-performance computing due to their slow transfer capacity and high energy consumption – the latter which results in the need for vast amounts of cooling.

It is estimated data centres now use around three per cent of the world’s generated electricity and produce about two per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Professor Gillin said: “Large amounts of energy are needed to move data electrically over relatively short distances. If we can remove the need for this electrical data transfer then the power requirements of data centres will be reduced dramatically.”

Optical communications are quicker and more energy efficient than the traditional copper infrastructure but previous attempts to launch products into this market have suffered from low yield of production, high cost of manufacturing, and complexities of integration onto silicon devices. Chromosol’s technology aims to address and alleviate all of these problems.

Inter-Satellite Optical-Wireless Communication (IsOWC)

Modeling and Performance Analysis of 10 Gbps Inter-Satellite-Link (ISL) In Inter-Satellite Optical-Wireless Communication (IsOWC) System between LEO and GEO Satellites

    Tayyab Mehmood, Nauman Hameed

Free space optical communication has merged the aspects of fiber optics and the wireless communication which are the most conquered and controlled telecommunication technologies. Most of the features of free space optics (FSO) are interrelated to fiber optics but the difference between them is transmission medium, which is glass in case of fiber-optics and air/vacuum in case of FSO. In the near future, communication between LEO & GEO satellites with each other which are orbiting the Earth will be done by using inter-satellite optical wireless communication (IsOWC) systems. IsOWC systems is the most significant application of the FSO and it will be installed in the space in the near future because of its low input power, no licensing by ITU, low cost, light weight, small size of the telescopes and very high data rates as compared to the radio frequency (RF) satellite systems. In this research article, IsOWC system is designed between LEO and GEO satellites by using optisystem which is not stated in past examined research works. Inter-satellite link is established between satellites which are separated by the distance of 40,000 Km at the bit rate of 10 Gbps.

Submitted 29 Nov 2017 to Signal Processing [eess.SP]

Published 30 Nov 2017

Author comments: 4 Pages, 6 Figures, 2014 IEEE 17th International Multi-Topic Conference (INMIC), Karachi, Pakistan

http://arxiv.org/abs/1711.10864

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1711.10864.pdf

See Source Link: https://scirate.com/arxiv/1711.10864

Design of active all-optical magnetometer

Abstract:

The researchers propose an active all-optical magnetometer based on Cesium four-level atomic system. The magnetometer is free of radio frequency antenna, thus has smaller measure volumes. With an theoretical milli Hertz linewidth of the four-level active optical clock, the magnetometer has a potential sensitivity of tens of fT Hz-1/2.

Published in: Frequency and Time Forum and IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium (EFTF/IFC), 2017 Joint Conference of the European

Date of Conference: 9-13 July 2017

Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 30 October 2017

Publisher: IEEE

Conference Location: Besancon, France

Source Link (DOI): 10.1109/FCS.2017.8088876

OPTICS 2018

Conference Announcement -

OPTICS is part of ICETE, the 15th International Joint Conference on e-Business and Telecommunications.

Porto, Portugal - July 26-28, 2018

 

Registration to OPTICS allows free access to all other ICETE conferences.

Upcoming Deadlines

Regular Paper Submission: March 13, 2018

Regular Paper Authors Notification: May 14, 2018

Regular Paper Camera Ready and Registration: May 28, 2018

The purpose of OPTICS 2018, the International Conference on Optical Communication Systems, is to bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested on any of the optical communication components of an optical communication system, or the system itself. 

An optical communication system consists of a transmitter, which encodes a message into an optical signal, a channel, which carries the signal to its destination, and a receiver, which reproduces the message from the received optical signal. Optical fiber is currently the main means for high-rate transmission in communication networks. In the last years, there is a great deal of ongoing research efforts that span the entire protocol stack of optical networks, with representative areas being architecture of optical components, optoelectronics, wavelength routing, energy efficiency, Quality of Service, hybrid optical-wireless networks etc.

Conference Chair

Mohammad S. Obaidat, Fordham University, United States

PROGRAM CHAIR

Panagiotis Sarigiannidis, University of Western Macedonia, Greece

Source Link:  http://www.optics.icete.org/

Symmetric 80-Gbps - NG-PON2

NG-PON2 can be implemented in many wavelength plans to replace or coexist with previous PON technologies.  In 2017, a proposed design was simulated taking into consideration the practical parameters of existing systems, the results shows that the system is reliable for implementation for   80-Gbps, utilizing 8-pairs of wavelengths transmitted over 40 Km and distributed and received by 128-users with an acceptable data rate.  

 
Source link: http://journals.iugaza.edu.ps/index.php/IUGNS/article/viewFile/2586/1791

Fiber Optic Microswitch

Micronor Inc. was first established in 2003 in a modest business unit on Old Conejo Road in Newbury Park, California.

In addition to providing sales and service for Micronor AG products in the North America, Micronor Inc. brought together a group of ambitious fiberoptic engineers who spent the next 10 years creating innovative fiber optic sensors. They branded them ZapFREE® because of their immunity to EMI, RFI and lightning.

2004  –  World’s First Commercial FO Incremental Encoder (MR310)
2007  –  US Patent 7,196,320 awarded for FO Incremental Encoder
2010  –  World’s First Commercial MRI-compatible FO Encoder (MR318)
2011  –  World’s First 13-bit FO Position Sensor (MR330)
2012  – World’s First Commercial MRI Safe FO Position Sensor (MR338)
2013  – US Patent 8,461,514 awarded for FO Absolute Position Sensor
2016  – World’s First Fiber Optic Microswitch

 


Since its founding in 1968, Micronor has been global “go-to” manufacturer for rotation sensor solutions, including geared limit switches, encoders, resolvers, motorized potentiometers and other components for the automation industry. Their extremely modular systems help us to conceive designs, prototypes and production units in record time. Their technology portfolio offers the broadest range of products from electromechanical to electronic to optical to fiber optics. ISO9000 certification in Switzerland.

Source Link: https://micronor.com/about/
 

Telefónica revolutionizes the connectivity market with plastic fibre and 60GHz Wi-Fi

The work is a pioneering innovation project in Spain

• Plastic optical fibre (POF) guarantees up to 1 Gbps, is easy to install, given that it can use all the existing channels in the home, and is secure, as it cannot be intercepted.
• The 60GHz Wi-Fi permits bandwidth with a theoretical maximum of 4600 Mbps.

Madrid, 14 November 2017.- Today, Telefónica presented a pioneering innovation project in Spain based on plastic optical fibre (POF), a solution for home connectivity which is easy to install and guarantees up to 1 Gbps for customers.
In addition, in order to optimize the connectivity, Telefónica demonstrated the potential of the 60GHz Wi-Fi technology, which can offer theoretical connectivities of up to 4600 Mbps.

Plastic optical fibre is a fibre with an 1mm core and a total diameter of 2.2mm which provides connectivity in the home with simple installation (it is sliced with a cutter), without connectors and at a cost considerably lower than glass fibre. All the existing pipelines in the home can be used to install it, without any risk or inconvenience. At the same time, it is secure because it cannot be intercepted and is immune to interferences.

Telefónica has conducted a plastic optical fibre pilot scheme in about 30 homes, each with up to four fibre outlets, with the deployment of a hybrid POF network (wired backbone) + Wi-Fi, with a smart Wi-Fi amplifier as the access point to expand the coverage.

Telefónica’s technological partner in this initiative is chipset provider KDPOF, a Spanish startup whose technology has become the Ethernet standard for plastic optical fibre, according to the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute).

The basic elements for the installation, in addition to the plastic fibre, are the media converter and the KDPOF chipset inside it. The media converter holds the plug, provides two Ethernet ports and permits the connection of two different POF branches.

60GHz Wi-Fi

Similarly, in order to optimize the connectivity, Telefónica is testing 60GHz Wi-Fi technology with large bandwidth and a theoretical maximum of 4600 Mbps. This new technology has various scopes of application, including rapid content download, high-quality video streaming without decompression, wireless docking and virtual reality device connectivity.

SOURCE LINK: 

https://www.telefonica.com/en/web/press-office/-/telefonica-revolutionizes-the-connectivity-market-with-plastic-fibre-and-60ghz-wi-fi

Optical Line Terminal (OLT) Growth Driven by "Cloudization"

Huawei’s Pizza OLT Solution to Accelerate FTTH Network Deployment

[Shenzhen, China, November 22, 2017] Huawei officially launched its Pizza Optical Line Terminal (OLT) solution, which is based on new one rack unit (U) box-shaped OLTs that feature compact size and low density. This solution further enriches fiber to the home (FTTH) solutions and product portfolios, helping operators speed deployment of FTTH networks.
Driven by home networks, network “cloudization,” and new services such as 4K and virtual reality (VR), fiber access has become an important measure for countries around the world to build broadband networks. An increasing number of operators have begun to use fiber access. With fiber access nodes continuously being moved downwards, OLTs are deployed closer to users. As deployment scenarios are varied and complex, operators urgently require smaller and lower-density OLTs to meet a range of requirements.
To help meet these needs, Huawei’s Pizza OLT MA5801 is designed at only one U in height, supporting dual AC or DC power supplies and a wide range of operating temperature, ensuring high reliability. It also offers two configurations. In the GPON solution, the Pizza OLT supports a maximum of eight ports and covers more than 500 users in typical use scenarios. In the PON combo solution, the Pizza OLT supports smooth evolution from GPON to XG-PON. It can be upgraded to gigabit ultra-broadband (UBB) access without the need to change components.
Huawei also provides multiple FTTH solutions based on the new Pizza OLTs. These OLTs can be flexibly applied in the following scenarios to meet requirements for economical and efficient network construction:
In scenarios of fast network construction through fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), mobile operators can fully use existing backhaul network resources and cabinet space when building FTTH networks. Specifically, they can deploy Huawei's Pizza OLTs in their mobile cabinets and lay short-distance drop fibers to cover surrounding households. Ultimately, Huawei's Pizza OLTs enable operators to achieve fast deployment and cut time-to-market.
In enterprises' all-optical campus scenarios, operators can uniformly build, operate, and maintain passive optical LAN (POL) networks using Huawei's Pizza OLTs. Operators can also lease these networks to campuses or enterprises, deploy all-optical access services in enterprise campuses, and seize opportunities in blue ocean markets in business-to-business (B2B) services for long-term growth.
In common coverage scenarios for national broadband, operators can rapidly roll out long-distance FTTH network coverage in sparsely-populated rural areas deploying Huawei's Pizza OLTs, Class C++ GPON optical modules with high power budgets, and a one-stop outdoor site solution. In geographically complex areas, such as islands and mountainous areas facing costly and time-consuming deployment of upstream fibers, operators can also use the microwave backhaul solution to achieve reliable FTTH network access at long distances. In this way, operators can reduce deployment time by 70% and strike a balance between investment expenditures and network coverage.
As broadband networks are the foundation for a smart society, Huawei, as a world-leading UBB network solution provider, is committed to providing innovative future-oriented solutions for operators over the long term. To date, Huawei has provided UBB access services for 500 million home users worldwide. In the future, Huawei will continue to work with global operators and industry partners to drive sustainable development of the UBB industry and build a better-connected world.

SOURCE LINK:  http://www.huawei.com/en/news/2017/11/Huawei-new-Pizza-OLT-Solution-FTTH