GITEX GLOBAL 2024 | Gavin Gu from Huawei: Optical Sensing Empowers Intelligent Remote Inspection, Implementing Optical-Sensing-In Hard-Work-OutGITEX GLOBAL 2024 | Gavin Gu from Huawei: Optical Sensing Empowers Intelligent Remote Inspection, Implementing Optical-Sensing-In Hard-Work-Out

[Dubai, UAE, October 14, 2024] During the 44th GITEX (GITEX GLOBAL 2024), Huawei Global Optical Summit (GOS) was successfully held in Dubai, UAE. With the theme of "Accelerate F5G-A, Amplify Intelligence," the summit attracted more than 300 industry experts, customers, and partners around the world.

Gavin Gu, President of Huawei Enterprise Optical Network Domain, delivered a keynote speech entitled " Optical Sensing Empowers Intelligent Remote Inspection." According to Gavin Gu, in the intelligent era, optical sensing can harness AI to implement more accurate intelligent remote operations in scenarios such as pipeline inspection, buried optical cable inspection, and perimeter protection of key areas. This allows employees to work from the office instead of outside the office, makes work more comfortable and efficient, and realizes "optical-sensing-in hard-work-out."

Keynote speech by Gavin Gu, President of Huawei Enterprise Optical Network Domain

He said, "Optical fibers can be used not only for communication, but also for sensing." When light is transmitted in an optical fiber, changes in external temperature, vibration, and strain cause corresponding changes in light scattering. Through data collection and analysis, the causes of these external changes can be determined. As such, each point of the optical fiber is also a sensor. Compared with other sensing technologies, optical fiber sensing + AI has many advantages: high precision, with zero false negatives and fewer false positives; long distance, covering dozens or even hundreds of kilometers; fast response, with light-speed signal backhaul; easy maintenance, long service life of optical fibers, and passive components that are not easily damaged.

Huawei has created a range of industry-specific solutions using optical fiber sensing technology. These solutions are utilized in various scenarios, including monitoring oil and gas pipelines, detecting buried optical cables, and providing perimeter protection.

In oil and gas pipeline inspection scenarios, traditional manual inspection is extremely labor-intensive and may fail to spot potential risks. Moreover, drones and video inspections have difficulty providing full coverage 24/7. Again this backdrop, Huawei developed an optical fiber sensing pipeline inspection solution based on optical sensing and AI. This solution provides the highest precision of event detection, achieving zero false alarms. What's more, this solution can leverage existing fiber resources along pipelines for rapid deployment. A single device supports detection up to 100 km. In December 2023, Huawei helped Shandong Branch of PipeChina launch its oil and gas pipeline optical fiber warning system, which currently covers 1,173 kilometers of pipelines and has accurately identified and swiftly held back over 100 third-party mechanical construction incidents.

In buried optical cable scenarios, communication optical cables are easily affected by external construction. But damage to optical cables will cause huge economic losses. In addition, during the deployment of buried optical cables, the actual length of optical cables is often not the same as the distance on the map due to cables being coiled. In response to these challenges, Huawei launched the buried optical cable inspection solution for ISPs, carriers, and governments. This solution can proactively detect construction behavior around optical cables and generate warnings in advance. In addition, this solution has the same high accuracy as the oil and gas pipeline optical fiber warning system, with the alarm accuracy reaching 95%. This solution collects vibration information along the optical cable to restore the actual length and deployment path of the optical cable, implementing accurate optical cable management.

In perimeter protection scenarios, Huawei launched the industry's first optical-visual linkage perimeter protection solution. This solution integrates optical sensing and intelligent vision technologies to build an intelligent sensing network system that helps protect airports, railways, and nature reserves. The solution uses the leading oDSP module and AI basic model, providing a false positive rate 90% lower than the industry average and withstanding force 7 winds and rainstorms. Replacing the traditional vibration cable solution, this solution has been applied to multiple airports in China, significantly improving alarm accuracy and O&M efficiency.

The optical-visual linkage solution is not limited to large perimeters and can also be utilized for small campus perimeters, including substations, oil and gas stations, and data centers. To meet the requirements of small campuses for lower costs, reduced equipment room footprint, and energy saving, Huawei launched the lightweight optical-visual linkage protection solution for small perimeters. The solution optimizes the AI algorithm and computing power for small campus perimeters, and implements the co-deployment of the NMS and sensing algorithm engine (SAE) on the same server. Aside from achieving zero false negatives and anti-interference, the solution also brings a 30% reduction in investment and equipment room footprint, as well as a 40% decrease in power consumption.

Gavin Gu emphasized that Huawei will continue to innovate optical sensing technology to meet the specific needs of various industry segments, assist customers in overcoming industry challenges, and drive intelligent industry upgrades.