1000s
One cable, total coverage
Every metre of fibre becomes a virtual sensor, giving continuous awareness along the whole route, not just at fixed points.
FOTAS: fibre that senses
A distributed fibre optic sensing platform that turns standard fibre-optic cable into thousands of virtual sensors that detect vibration, intrusion and temperature in real time across data, telecom and power networks.
Distributed fibre optic sensing
More than a sensor
FOTAS turns the fibre-optic cable already in the ground into a continuous, intelligent sensing array. Instead of point sensors at fixed locations, every metre of fibre becomes a measurement point, giving you complete, real-time awareness along the entire route.
By sending laser pulses down the fibre and analysing the light scattered back, FOTAS pinpoints exactly where and when something happens. AI-powered analytics classify each event and filter out noise, so your team receives clear, actionable alerts instead of raw data. The result: FOTAS detects risks, enhances safety and simplifies decision-making.
One cable · thousands of sensors
Core technology
Inside FOTAS
DAS and DTS run over the very fibre LGCE supplies, combined with AI analytics, complete immunity to interference and long-range reach.
Distributed Acoustic Sensing
Detects and locates vibration, digging and intrusion to within metres along the cable.
Immune to interference
Because it senses with light, FOTAS is completely immune to electromagnetic interference, making it ideal alongside high-voltage power.
Distributed Temperature Sensing
A live thermal profile of the entire route, revealing hotspots and fire long before they become failures.
AI turns noise into alerts
High-precision analytics classify every event and pinpoint where it happens, giving clear, located, actionable alerts instead of raw data.
Deep dive
Technology
Open either card to go deeper into DAS and DTS: how each turns a single fibre into thousands of sensors, and why one reads vibration through Rayleigh backscatter while the other reads temperature through Raman backscatter.
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS)
Turns a single fibre into thousands of virtual microphones, sensing sound, vibration and strain along its whole length in real time.
Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS)
Turns a single optical fibre into thousands of temperature sensors, giving an exact reading at every point along the cable.
Geodata overlay
Your network on a live map
FOTAS plots your calibrated fibre route on a live map and pins every event exactly where it happens, so your team can see, locate and verify incidents in real time.
Web-based access
Log in securely over your own network; there is no software to install.
Located to the metre
Every detection is placed on the route at its exact position along the cable.
CCTV integration
Jump straight to the camera covering that point on your calibrated line.
Applications
Where FOTAS protects
One platform spans data, telecom and power, because it runs on the fibre infrastructure that connects them all.
Pipeline monitoring
Leak detection, third-party interference and intrusion alerts along oil, gas and utility pipelines.
Perimeter & border security
Continuous intrusion detection along fences, perimeters and borders, with precise localisation.
Fire detection
Early fire and overheat detection in tunnels, cable trays and confined spaces via continuous temperature sensing.
Power-cable condition
Real-time thermal monitoring and dynamic rating of high-voltage cables and critical energy assets.
Data centres
Temperature mapping and physical-security sensing for data-centre halls, ducts and campus boundaries.
Transportation & rail
Train tracking, trespasser and rockfall detection, and cable-theft alerts along rail networks.
Why FOTAS
From raw fibre to real assurance
01
Real-time awareness
Continuous situational awareness along the entire route, not just at fixed points.
02
Early detection
Catch leaks, intrusions and overheating before they become incidents.
03
Cost-effective
Reuses existing fibre infrastructure, with no field-powered sensors to install or maintain.
04
Reliable in harsh conditions
Immune to EMI and built to perform where conventional sensors struggle.
05
Scalable & long-range
One platform covers tens of kilometres and grows with your network.
06
Easy to integrate
Open interfaces connect FOTAS to SCADA, IoT and existing control systems.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is FOTAS?
FOTAS is a distributed fibre optic sensing (DFOS) platform. It turns a standard fibre-optic cable into thousands of virtual sensors, using distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) and distributed temperature sensing (DTS) to detect vibration, intrusion and temperature along the entire cable in real time.
Do I need to install special cable?
In most cases, no. FOTAS works over standard single-mode fibre (including spare fibres in cable LGCE already supplies and installs), so it can reuse existing fibre infrastructure and keep deployment cost-effective.
How does FOTAS reduce false alarms?
AI-powered analytics and high-precision signal processing classify each event and filter out noise, turning continuous measurements into clear, actionable alerts. Your team is notified about genuine threats rather than buried in raw data.
Where does FOTAS fit within LGCE?
FOTAS spans all three LGCE disciplines (data, telecom and power), because it runs on the very fibre infrastructure LGCE supplies. That lets us combine the sensing platform with the cable, components and project support behind it.
What is the difference between DAS and DTS?
Both run over the same fibre. Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) reacts to vibration and sound, so it picks up digging, footsteps, a passing vehicle or a cable being cut and reports where along the route it happened. Distributed temperature sensing (DTS) reads the temperature profile of the whole line, which is what flags a developing fire, a hotspot on a power cable or a leak. Many FOTAS deployments use both at once.
How far can a single FOTAS system monitor?
A single interrogator typically covers up to around 50 km of fibre, and roughly double that when it senses from both ends of the route. Longer corridors are handled by adding units or repeater points along the way. The exact reach depends on the fibre quality and how the cable is installed.
How accurately does FOTAS locate an event?
FOTAS places each event on the calibrated route to within about ten metres, and to a few metres in favourable conditions, so a crew is sent to a precise point rather than a whole section. Under calibrated conditions the classification of what caused the event is typically better than 90 percent reliable.
Can FOTAS tell different events apart, such as walking from digging?
Yes. Each type of activity leaves its own vibration signature, and the analytics are trained to recognise them, so footsteps, a moving vehicle, manual digging and mechanical excavation are reported as distinct events. That is what keeps operators focused on the threats that matter instead of every passing disturbance.
Can FOTAS run alongside high-voltage power cables?
Yes, and that is one of its strengths. Because FOTAS senses with light rather than electricity, it is completely immune to the electromagnetic fields around power cables and substations. The same fibre can secure the route and, with temperature sensing, monitor the thermal condition of the power cable itself.
How does FOTAS connect to our control room or existing systems?
FOTAS presents its events over open interfaces such as REST API, Modbus TCP, SNMP, OPC-UA and Syslog, so it plugs into SCADA, DCS and physical-security (PSIM) platforms and can trigger cameras or other systems on your side. Every alert carries its location along the route, so a control room can act on it and, where cameras are integrated, jump straight to the point involved.
What maintenance does FOTAS need?
Very little. The sensing cable is passive and, once installed, needs no field maintenance; the equipment lives indoors in a rack. Day to day, FOTAS asks for software updates, routine health checks and an occasional recalibration, plus a periodic check of the fibre itself. There are no field-powered sensors to service, which is a large part of why it stays cost-effective over its life.
What happens if the sensing fibre is cut?
The cut is itself an event: FOTAS registers the break, alerts your team and reports where it is. When the fibre is installed as a loop and sensed from both ends, a single cut does not blind the system, since coverage continues from the other direction; only two breaks at different points would leave a section unmonitored between them.
How quickly can FOTAS be up and running?
When the fibre is already in the ground, a site can usually be commissioned, calibrated and handed over within a few days, including testing and a short operator training. Where the route still has to be built, LGCE supplies the cable, ducts and closures for it too, so the sensing layer is planned in from the start.
Turn your fibre into a sensor network
Whether you are protecting a pipeline, a perimeter, a rail corridor or a power-cable route, our specialists will help you scope FOTAS for your network, and the fibre infrastructure behind it.
FOTAS
Pipeline monitoring
A buried pipeline can run for hundreds of kilometres through terrain that no patrol can watch continuously. FOTAS listens along the entire length at once: the acoustic signature of a digging machine, a manual excavation or an illegal tap appears within milliseconds, and the system reports how far along the line the disturbance sits, so a crew is sent to the right point instead of the whole route.
Temperature sensing adds a second layer of protection. When product escapes the pipe or pressure drops, the thermal profile of the surrounding ground changes, so a developing leak is flagged and located before it becomes a spill. Oil, gas and water operators use one and the same fibre for both jobs, turning a passive cable into a permanent early-warning line.
FOTAS
Perimeter & border security
Fences, site boundaries and long linear borders are hard to guard with cameras alone: coverage has gaps and nuisance alarms wear teams down. A single fibre run along the line turns the whole perimeter into one continuous detector that reacts to climbing, cutting, crawling or a vehicle approaching the boundary.
Because every event carries its position along the cable, the control room sees exactly which section reacted and can steer a camera straight to it. The analytics separate a genuine intrusion from wind, rain or passing traffic, so operators act on real events rather than chasing false alarms across kilometres of fence.
FOTAS
Fire detection
In tunnels, cable galleries, conveyor routes and other confined spaces, a fire has to be caught in its first minutes. FOTAS reads temperature continuously along the fibre, so a rising hotspot is spotted and pinpointed long before smoke reaches a point detector at the ceiling.
One sensing cable replaces a long string of individual detectors and needs no power or electronics inside the hazardous zone itself, which matters where explosive atmospheres or high voltage rule out conventional sensors. The live thermal profile also shows where heat is building up, giving operators time to ventilate, isolate or evacuate a specific section.
FOTAS
Power-cable condition
The rating of a high-voltage cable is set by how hot its conductor is allowed to get, and that depends on the soil, the burial depth and the load of the moment. FOTAS measures temperature along the whole route in real time, so operators see the actual thermal state instead of a worst-case assumption printed on a datasheet.
That live picture supports dynamic rating: a circuit can safely carry more while the ground is cool, and hotspots from a drying trench, a crossing or a failing joint are found before they age the insulation. Because the measurement is optical, it works right next to energised conductors with complete immunity to the electromagnetic fields around them.
FOTAS
Data centres
A data centre depends on two things at once: keeping equipment inside its thermal envelope and keeping people out of places they should not be. FOTAS maps temperature continuously through halls, containment aisles and duct routes, so a hotspot or a blocked airflow path shows up as a located event rather than a rack alarm after the fact.
The same fibre secures the physical envelope. Runs along duct entries, fences and campus boundaries pick up digging near the feeders, tampering at a chamber or an approach to the site, and place each event on the map. One platform then covers both the megawatts and the network route into the building.
FOTAS
Transportation & rail
Fibre already follows most rail corridors, and FOTAS turns it into a live view of the track. The acoustic signature of a train lets the system follow each service along the line, while it also picks out trespassers, rockfall onto the track, or someone cutting the signalling and power cables that run beside it.
Every alert carries its position, so control can send staff to a precise kilometre mark instead of closing a whole section on suspicion. On roads and in tunnels the same approach flags stopped vehicles, incidents and the heat of a developing fire, shortening the time between an event and a response.
Technology
Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS)
DAS turns an ordinary single-mode telecom fibre into a continuous line of acoustic sensors. Every metre of the cable acts as a virtual microphone, so one interrogator can monitor sound, vibration and dynamic strain along the entire route. It works on standard G.652 fibre, including dark fibres in cables that are already in the ground.
How it works
An interrogator sends short, highly coherent laser pulses into the fibre. Natural imperfections in the glass reflect a small fraction of the light back as coherent Rayleigh backscatter. Because travel time maps directly to distance, each returning signal points to a precise location. When acoustic waves or vibration stretch the glass, they shift the optical phase of the backscatter, and the system reads that phase change to recover the local signal. Rayleigh is used here because it responds strongly and quickly to dynamic strain, unlike Raman or Brillouin scattering.
What it detects
DAS picks up sound, vibration and dynamic strain along the whole cable. It recognises footsteps, running, vehicles, digging, drilling and tunnelling near the fibre. It also flags third-party interference on buried cables and perimeters, pipeline leaks and flow anomalies, rail traffic and track defects, and seismic activity. The system localises each event and classifies it by frequency, amplitude and pattern to identify the source.
Where it is used
DAS suits long, linear assets where point sensors would leave gaps. Typical uses include pipeline leak and dig-in detection, perimeter and intrusion security, rail monitoring for train tracking and track condition, and power and utility corridors. It also serves oil and gas well monitoring, traffic monitoring, and structural health checks on bridges, dams and tunnels. One cable replaces thousands of point sensors, with the interrogator kept safely at one end.
Key capabilities
- Thousands of virtual sensing channels from one fibre
- Uses coherent Rayleigh backscatter for phase sensing
- Precise event localisation by time-of-flight
- Classifies events by frequency, amplitude and pattern
- Reuses spare or dark fibre in existing cables
- Reach typically up to around 40 to 50 km per unit
- Immune to electromagnetic interference, safe in hazardous zones
Technology
Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS)
DTS measures temperature continuously along an entire optical fibre. Instead of discrete probes, the cable itself becomes a linear array of thousands of virtual sensors. Each reading is tied to a precise location, producing a full temperature profile in real time.
How it works
An interrogator sends short laser pulses into the fibre. Part of the light scatters back as Raman signals in two bands, Stokes and Anti-Stokes. The Anti-Stokes band changes strongly with temperature while the Stokes band barely does, so their ratio gives an absolute temperature at each point, independent of fibre attenuation. The round-trip travel time of each return shows exactly where along the fibre it came from.
What it detects
DTS produces a continuous temperature profile over the full fibre length. It flags hot spots in power cables and joints, early heat rise for fire and linear heat detection, and temperature anomalies that reveal leaks along pipelines. It also tracks abnormal readings on industrial equipment and processes.
Where it is used
DTS suits fire and linear heat detection in tunnels, cable trays and buildings, and thermal rating of power cables and joints. It profiles temperature in oil and gas wells, detects pipeline leaks, and oversees industrial processes. Because the sensing cable is passive and all-dielectric, it fits hazardous, explosive and high-voltage sites where electronics cannot go.
Key capabilities
- Thousands of virtual sensing points from one fibre
- Uses Raman backscatter for absolute temperature
- Precise point localisation by time-of-flight
- Absolute reading from the Stokes/Anti-Stokes ratio
- Passive, all-dielectric sensing cable
- Reach typically up to around 65 km per unit
- Immune to electromagnetic interference, safe in hazardous zones