Calculation of birefringence in a waveguide based on Rayleigh scatter

1. A method for determining birefringence of a waveguide segment at a particular location along the waveguide, where the waveguide has plural polarization modes, the method comprising:

coupling light into the plural polarization modes of the waveguide so that the light propagates along the plural polarization modes of the waveguide;

detecting scatter reflections associated with the waveguide segment;

generating back scatter data associated with the detected scatter reflections;

computing an autocorrelation of the back scatter data;

determining the birefringence of the waveguide segment at the particular location along the waveguide based on the computed autocorrelation; and

using the determined birefringence to characterize the waveguide segment.

2. The method in claim 1 , further comprising:

using Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry (OFDR) to obtain the back scatter data, and

storing the back scatter data in memory.

3. The method in claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a distance from a main peak of the autocorrelation and a side peak of the autocorrelation,

wherein the side peak of the autocorrelation corresponds to one of plural polarization modes associated with light back scattered from the waveguide segment.

4. The method in claim 3 , wherein the distance corresponds to a beat length of the waveguide segment, and

wherein the birefringence is determined based on the beat length.

5. The method in claim 1 , further comprising:

scanning the waveguide with a tunable laser,

wherein light from the laser is reflected as a result of Rayleigh scattering in the waveguide and corresponds to the scatter reflections.

6. The method in claim 5 , further comprising:

linearizing the back scatter data to compensate for non-linearity in the scanning.

7. The method in claim 5 performed using an OFDR including a polarization beam splitter and plural polarization back scatter intensity detectors.

8. The method in claim 5 performed using an OFDR without a polarization beam splitter.

9. The method in claim 5 , further comprising:

from back scatter data in the waveguide, generating a set of reflectivity numbers as a function of frequency for two polarization modes associated with light back scattered from the waveguide;

calculating a Fourier transform of the set of complex reflectivity numbers;

extracting two arrays of complex data associated with two polarizations of the segment from the set of complex reflectivity numbers;

calculating a Fourier transform of the two complex data arrays;

calculating an amplitude of a complex number at each point in the two arrays;

calculating a vector sum of the two amplitudes for each point in the two arrays to form a single amplitude spectrum;

removing a mean from the amplitude spectrum;

autocorrelating the amplitude spectrum;

determining a distance from a center spectral peak to a first side peak in the autocorreation; and

calculating the birefringence of the segment based on the determined distance.

10. The method in claim 1 , further comprising:

using Optical Low Coherence Reflectometry (OLCR) to obtain the back scatter data, and

storing the back scatter data in memory.

11. The method in claim 1 , wherein the birefringence is determined without using a Bragg grating.

12. The method in claim 1 , wherein the waveguide is an optical fiber.

13. The method in claim 1 , wherein the birefringence is used to detect a temperature or a strain associated with the waveguide segment.

14. The method in claim 1 , wherein the autocorrelation of the back scatter data is performed in the spectral or frequency domain.

15. The method in claim 1 , wherein the waveguide is highly birefringent and the segment of the waveguide is more that 20 cm from the beginning of the highly birefringent waveguide.

16. Optical apparatus, comprising:

a light source for coupling light into plural polarization modes of a waveguide so that the light propagates along the plural polarization modes of the waveguide;

optical detection circuitry configured to detect scatter reflections associated with a segment of the waveguide and generate back scatter data associated with the detected scatter reflections, and

processing circuitry configured to:

computing an autocorrelation of the back scatter data, and

determine a birefringence of the waveguide segment at a particular location along the waveguide based on the computed autocorrelation.

17. The apparatus in claim 16 , wherein the apparatus includes an Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometry (OFDR) instrument.

18. The apparatus in claim 16 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:

determine a distance from a main peak of the autocorrelation and a side peak of the autocorrelation, and

wherein the side peak of the autocorrelation corresponds to one of plural polarization modes associated with light back scattered from the waveguide segment.

19. The apparatus in claim 18 , wherein the distance corresponds to a beat length of the waveguide segment, and

wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the birefringence based on the beat length.

20. The apparatus in claim 16 , further comprising:

a tunable laser for scanning the waveguide,

wherein light from the laser is reflected as a result of Rayleigh scattering in the waveguide and corresponds to the scatter reflections.

21. The apparatus in claim 20 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to linearize the back scatter data to compensate for non-linearity in the scanning.

22. The apparatus in claim 20 , further comprising:

a polarization beam splitter, and

plural polarization back scatter intensity detectors.

23. The apparatus in claim 20 , wherein the apparatus is an OFDR without a polarization beam splitter.

24. The apparatus in claim 20 , the processing circuitry is configured to:

from back scatter data in the waveguide, generate a set of reflectivity numbers as a function of frequency for two polarization modes associated with light back scattered from the waveguide;

calculate a Fourier transform of the set of reflectivity numbers;

extract two arrays of complex data associated with two polarizations of the segment from the set of complex reflectivity numbers;

calculate a Fourier transform of the two complex data arrays;

calculate an amplitude of a complex number at each point in the two arrays;

calculate a vector sum of the two amplitudes for each point in the two arrays to form a single amplitude spectrum;

remove a mean from the amplitude spectrum;

autocorrelate the amplitude spectrum;

determine a distance from a center spectral peak to a first side peak in the autocorreation; and

calculate the birefringence of the segment based on the determined distance.

25. The apparatus in claim 16 , wherein the apparatus includes an Optical Low Coherence Reflectometry (OLCR) instrument.

26. The apparatus in claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is arranged to

determine the birefringence without using a Bragg grating.

27. The apparatus in claim 16 , wherein the waveguide is an optical fiber.

28. The apparatus in claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is configured to detect a temperature or a strain associated with the waveguide segment using the determined birefringence.

29. The apparatus in claim 16 , wherein the autocorrelation of the back scatter data is performed in the spectral or frequency domain.

30. The apparatus in claim 16 , wherein the waveguide is highly birefringent and the segment of the waveguide is more than 20 cm from the beginning of the highly birefringent waveguide.