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Higher Performance, Lower Cost New N8510 Optical Fiber Strain Sensing System
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Advantest and NTT Infranet launch new N8510 optical fiber strain sensing system
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TOKYO, Japan, April 5th, 2006 - NTT Infranet (head office: Tokyo, president and CEO: Gouhei Matsumoto) and Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857, NYSE: ATE), the world's largest provider of test equipment to the global semiconductor industry, today announced the availability of their new BOTDR (*1) (Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry) optical fiber strain sensing system, the N8510.
The system will be on display at Advantest's booth at Laser Expo 2006, which is to be held at Pacifico Yokohama from April 19th.
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| Background |
NTT Infranet's previous strain monitoring system employs BOTDR technology developed by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (head office: Tokyo, president: Norio Wada) to monitor stresses via infrastructure management optical fibers (*2), permitting simpler, more effective maintenance of large-scale structures. It has principally been used in tunnels, levees, and crib walls. However, year by year, the demand for a system with potential for broader application has grown more acute.
There is a widely recognized need for disaster prevention technology that can monitor the condition of any structure subject to aging and environmental degradation, and avert catastrophes by delivering warnings of impending collapses or landslides.
Advantest and NTT Infranet have developed the N8510 to meet this need. |
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| Product Overview |
The N8510 uses strain sensor cables (*3) embedded during construction to sense physical stresses such as cracks in concrete structures, slippages in crib walls, and early warning signs of collapse in levees, making it possible to detect disasters before they happen. Its performance improves significantly on previous systems in areas such as duplicability of strain measurements (*4), maximum monitoring range, and speed of measurement.
Design optimization (*5) has eliminated moving parts, always the likeliest cause of malfunctions, thus improving reliability and reducing the price of the N8510.
Affordable and high-performance, it has the potential for extremely wide adoption, not only in large-scale infrastructure projects, but as a strain sensing system for structures and civil engineering projects of every type - buildings, bridges, foundations, and perhaps even vessels. |
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| Specifications |
The N8510 achieves a wide dynamic range (*6) by employing proprietary technologies from Advantest including high-sensitivity coherent detection technology (*7) and an optical switching device with an enhanced extinction ratio (*8). It owes its affordable cost in part to its design-optimized optical block (*9) and signal processor.
The following is a brief comparison of the N8510 with previously available systems. |
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| 1) |
Price |
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With its optimized design, the N8510 is almost 70% cheaper. |
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| 2) |
Duplicability of strain measurements |
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With its wide dynamic range, the N8510 offers 2-4 times the duplicability of previous systems |
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| 3) |
Maximum monitoring range |
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With its wide dynamic range, the N8510 offers up to twice the monitoring range of previous systems |
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| 4) |
Speed of measurements |
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With its wide dynamic range, the N8510 offers measurements approximately 75% faster than previous systems, with no loss of duplicability |
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| 5) |
High reliability |
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The elimination of moving parts puts the N8510 at lower risk of mechanical failures and makes it highly reliable. |
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| 6) |
Data capacity |
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With a larger capacity for data storage, the N8510 can make up to 100,000 simultaneous measurements - five times the capacity of previous systems |
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| 1. |
BOTDR (Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry) |
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A technology developed by NTT to measure distortions and temperature changes in optical fibers. Pulses are launched from both ends of a fiber, and the frequency distribution of the Brillouin scattered light that returns is measured and analyzed. |
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Infrastructure management optical fibers |
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Installed by civil authorities for more effective management of roads, rivers, etc. |
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| 3. |
Strain sensor cables |
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Unlike the optical fiber cables used for communications, constructed as to transmit distortions of the cladding directly to the core. Representative of the category are the 4-fiber ribbon sensor cables jointly developed by NTT Infranet and Fujikura Ltd. (head office: Tokyo, president: Kazuhiko Ohashi). |
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Duplicability of strain measurements |
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An index of the range of variation between results when a measurement is repeated in the identical environment, under identical conditions. It is physically difficult for BOTDR technology to measure absolute levels of stress, so instead, it monitors changes relative to initial values. It can measure these relative differences to a high level of accuracy, which gives it its reputation for excellent duplicability. |
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Design optimization |
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A design method that selects the optimal design from the standpoint of cost and performance, based on simulator trials of every feasible combination of parts and circuits. |
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Coherent detection technology |
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A signal detection method developed in the wireless communications field. The incoming signal is beat against a local oscillator field (usually of a lower frequency), and a second signal is output on a wavelength equal to the difference between the two. The method allows for highly sensitive detection of incoming signals, even over considerable distances. |
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Optical switching device with an enhanced extinction ratio |
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Extinction ratio: the ratio between the intensity of a light when it is switched on and when it is switched off. The higher the extinction ratio, the lower the noise ratio of incoming signals. Advantest's proprietary technology, for which a patent application has been filed, achieves an extinction ratio twice that of conventional devices. |
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Dynamic range |
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Expresses the ratio of a signal's maximum value to its minimum value. A wider dynamic range minimizes the impact of noise on measurement results. |
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Optical block |
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A component that converts optical signals, such as Brillouin scattered light, into electrical signals. |
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| Please Direct Further Enquiries About This Product To |
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NTT Infranet Corporate Planning Division
tel: 03-5645-1004
Advantest Corporation Optical Sensing Product Group
tel: 0120-988-971 |
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