FiberPDS – Fiber Optic Alarmed Carrier and Protective Distribution System (PDS)

FiberPDS can provide the continuous tamper monitoring, fault supervision and alarm information needed as part of an alarmed-carrier PDS design under CNSSI No. 7003. The product is only one component of the solution. The complete route, carrier construction, access conditions, alarm annunciation, response time, test schedule, operating procedure and documentation must be reviewed and approved by the responsible Authorizing Official and cognizant security authority.

Typical applications include campus backbones, long carrier routes, approved building-to-building links, data-center interconnections and communication infrastructure that passes through areas of lesser classification or control. CNSSI No. 7003 does not permit an unencrypted PDS through an Uncontrolled Access Area, so approved encryption is required wherever that condition exists.

ShortPDS uses copper sensor cable for short point-to-point runs and can monitor up to four independent 1,000 ft (300 m) zones from one processor. FiberPDS is intended for routes measured in kilometers or miles and provides distributed event location along the fiber. Many projects use both technologies for different portions of an approved end-to-end design.

When FiberPDS uses a dedicated sensing fiber or spare dark fiber, its optical signal remains separate from the traffic-carrying fibers. It does not connect to or alter the protected data stream. The sensing fiber and complete PDS architecture should still be included in the technical review and approval documentation for the project.

Yes. When the cable is installed and coupled appropriately, the system can detect and classify vibration associated with excavation or digging near buried sections. Detection distance and classification performance vary with soil, burial depth, cable construction, equipment, background activity and system configuration. Site-specific testing is required to establish acceptance criteria.

Vidalert displays the event type, measured fiber distance and mapped route location. Network integration can pass detailed event and location data to compatible security platforms. Dry-contact outputs can also report alarms to a standard panel, but a relay normally represents a configured zone and does not by itself carry precise distance or coordinate information. The required integration method should be defined during design.

Provide the route length and topology, origin and endpoint locations, carrier type, existing cable and dark-fiber availability, splice and connector details, OTDR results, buried and aboveground sections, service loops, alarm-monitoring location and required third-party integrations. RBtec can then develop the sensing architecture, mapping plan and bill of materials.