5G Optical Sensing Technologies

This chapter describes the future network architecture in 5G communication systems and the development of fiber optic sensors to provide not just only secure but also reliable access for the new mobile communication systems. In case of fiber optic sensors, measurement is employed by sensing either intensity or phase change in one or more lights beams. The use of optical fibers as the main backbone of most communication systems including the 5G network can efficiently and cost effectively help in transferring large amounts of information from point to point. The chapter covers optical fiber based sensors and pays particular attention to optical fiber network physical security solutions. It presents three types of optical fiber sensor technologies: optical time domain reflectometer based sensor, MFI and fiber Bragg grating sensor. The chapter discusses performance parameters and design considerations.