6–7 Jul 2026
The Brewery
Europe/London timezone

Data Signal-Based Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing

6 Jul 2026, 14:15
15m
The Porter Tun (1st Floor) (The Brewery)

The Porter Tun (1st Floor)

The Brewery

52 Chiswell Street London EC1Y 4SA What3Words: ///guilty.rabble.books
Standard Presentation Main Session NetUK3 Plenary

Speaker

Jasmine Parkes (Comtek Network Systems and Bangor University)

Description

Physical fibre cable problems cause roughly a third of all network outages. Reducing Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) isn’t just a technical goal-it’s an economic necessity. While Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing (DFOS) can solve this, the high cost of deploying dedicated sensing fibres or extra lasers remains a major obstacle for widespread operator adoption.

To solve this, our joint R&D initiative between Bangor University’s DSP Centre of Excellence, Sorrento, and Comtek Networks has focused on developing a breakthrough "Data-Driven Sensing" architecture. By enabling the live, active data-carrying signal itself to act as the sensor, we classify and localise fibre faults with ~98% accuracy, all with no extra fibre assets, no additional lasers, and no downtime.

This matters because it eliminates the massive capital overhead of traditional standalone DAS monitoring. It allows operators to protect critical backbone routes and detect "near-miss" physical threats using the active, revenue-generating fibre you already have in the ground. Finally, the presentation outlines a forward-looking research roadmap for developing this technology to simultaneously monitor the physical infrastructure running alongside most fibre networks.

Summary

Physical fibre issues cause roughly a third of all network outages. This presentation introduces a breakthrough "Data-Driven Sensing" architecture that enables live, active data-carrying signals to act as sensors. Validated to classify and localise faults with ~98% accuracy, with no extra fibre assets, lasers, or downtime required. This approach eliminates the heavy overhead of traditional monitoring.

Talk Duration 10 Minutes Presentation (+5 Minutes Q&A)
Can your presentation be broadcast live on our webcast, which will be accessible via Youtube? Yes
Can your presentation slides be published publicly on our Indico instance and the NetUK website? Yes
Can a recording of your presentation be published publicly on our website? Yes
Can a recording of your presentation be uploaded to our public YouTube channel? Yes
Do you consent for us to publish your name and affiliation as a Speaker on the NetUK website and Social Media? Yes

Author

Jasmine Parkes (Comtek Network Systems and Bangor University)

Presentation materials