Fiber optic data bus for solid state sensors

A sensor system is described which is immune to EMI (electromagnetic interference) by combining a fiber-optic data bus with existing solid-state sensors. By optimizing the electrical design, through the wide variety of standardized circuits, this system allows for using a relatively inexpensive optical design based on standard optical components. Also power consumption can be traded off with added functions at the transducer end. With low-power electronics the options to address individual sensors, multiplex between sensors, change the sensor sample rate, and set threshold alarms are relatively simple compared to performing these functions with an optical scheme.<>