14.3.1 Fiber Optical Path

An optical path is a set of continuous optical waveguides that acts as a linear sensor, used to record temperature or acoustic or dynamic strain events along its length, as shown for example in Figure 14.3.1-1 . It can be composed of one or more optical path components and has one termination. An optical path component could be a fiber segment, a connector, a splice, or a turnaround. See Section 16.3 Installation in Wellbores for some example physical fiber installations in wellbores which may make up the Optical Path.

In the PRODML distributed data objects, the optical path is represented by a Fiber Optical Path top-level object. This object contains one optical path object that represents both the collection of components used along the path and the connection network.

Figure 14.3.1-1 Example of a dual-ended optical path installation, showing different types of components.

In this example, we have one optical path that is deployed in a well in a dual-ended configuration.

To support the requirement to be able to track the changes in the path over time, the optical path is represented using the inventory and network pattern explained in the following sections.

• Optical Path Inventory. This is a list of all the components used in the Optical Path over the whole time being reported. (For more information, see 14.3.2 Optical Path Inventory Representation ().)

• Optical Path Network. This is a representation of the connectivity of a set of components at a given time. (For more information, see 14.3.3 Optical Path Network Representation.)