Evaluation Parameter for Self-Healing FBG Sensor Networks After Multiple Fiber Failures

Quantitatively evaluating the reliability of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor networks becomes problematic as the number of working fiber failures increases in dedicated protection mode. To solve this problem, a signal attenuation rate (SAR) of the sensor system is proposed to evaluate self-healing capabilities after increased working fiber failures. We analyze the influencing factors and calculate the theoretical values of SAR under different network states for values of split ratio a = 0.1, 0.5, and 0.9. Our theoretical model was experimentally demonstrated using an FBG sensor network with four sensors. The results of our calculations using this model agree with our experimental results.