APNIC Pty Ltd.

04/18/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/17/2024 15:29

[Podcast] Using fibre optics to measure vehicle traffic

Laying fibre optic cable in a trench, with an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) meter.

This time on PING, Dr Mona Jaber from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), discusses her work exploring IoT, digital twins and social science-led research in the field of networking and telecommunications.

Dr Jaber is a senior lecturer at QMUL and is the founder and director of the Digital Twins for Sustainable Development Goals (DT4SDG) at QMUL. She was a keynote speaker at the recent APRICOT 2024 / APNIC 57 meeting held in Bangkok, and the podcast explores the three major themes explored in her keynote presentation:

  • The role of deployed fibre optic communication systems in measurement for sustainable green goals
  • Digital twin simulation platforms for exploring the problem space
  • Social sciences-led research, an inter-disciplinary approach to formulating and exploring problems has been applied to sustainable development-related research through technical innovation in IoT, AI, and digital twins.

The fibre optic measurement method is a Distributed Acoustic Sensor (DAS):

"DAS reuses underground fibre optic cables as distributed strain sensing where the strain is caused by moving objects above ground. DAS is not affected by weather or light and the fibre optic cables are often readily available, offering a continuous source for sensing along the length of the cable. Unlike video cameras, DAS systems also offer a GDPR-compliant source of data."

The DASMATE Project at The Engineer

This episode of PING was recorded live in the venue and is a bit noisy compared to the usual recordings, but it's well worth putting up with some background chatter!

Read more about Dr Jaber's presentation, the DAS system, digital twins and fibre optic communications:

You can stream and subscribe to PING via the following channels:

If you're interested in sharing your insights or research, please get in touch - we're always looking for great stories from the community. And please do let us know what you think of the podcast as well as the APNIC Blog so we can keep improving.

The views expressed by the authors of this blog are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of APNIC. Please note a Code of Conduct applies to this blog.