Field Trial of High-Sensitivity Forward-Transmission Sensing for Real-World Event Detection Over Live Urban Fiber Networks
Vibration sensing based on forward transmission is an emerging topic for network protection and environmental monitoring, especially in long-haul submarine cables and urban fiber networks. However, previous field trials of this approach have mainly focused on localizing strong events under controlled or relatively quiet conditions. In this work, we investigate the capability of forward-transmission vibration sensing to detect weak signals in noisy environments. We demonstrate a high-sensitivity vibration sensing system operating over an 80-km deployed live urban fiber loop without optical amplifiers. The system is enhanced by adaptive time-frequency masking and in-band laser phase noise suppression techniques to improve sensitivity and noise robustness. It has successfully identified and localized weak real-world vibration events with peak-to-peak amplitude lower than 20 rad, such as construction activity near a manhole and even footsteps on handhole lids. Field trial results confirm its robust performance under dynamic environments, including road traffic-induced ground vibrations and aerial cable disturbances. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of weak vibration event detection using forward transmission in urban fiber networks. It remarks a significant step towards practical distributed vibration sensing in smart city applications.
