Pulsed interferometric optical fibre sensor detecting wiretapping in long transmission lines

A modified optical fibre based Mach-Zehnder interferometer was applied as a sensor to detect wiretapping in long transmission optical fibre lines. The signal consisting of short pulses (around 1 ns) was launched to the input of the interferometer based on the polarization maintaining fibres and polarization elements. When the sensing line was undisturbed, detectors registered only a single pulse. The additional two side pulses appear, if the wiretapping attempt took place. For robust detection of any alarm situation we proposed two-criteria algorithm to minimize false alarm rate. Moreover, slow environmental fluctuations were continuously monitored and compensated by polarization controllers. We measured frequency characteristics of the sensor and performed a hundred wiretapping attempts, which proved high performance of the sensor. (C) 2018 Association of Polish Electrical Engineers (SEP). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.