Estimation of positioning sparsity for Sagnac correction in fiber-optic time transfer

Abstract

The Sagnac effect is an important factor that leads to nonreciprocity in long-haul fiber-optic time and a frequency transfer system. For high-precision time transfer, correction must be performed to eliminate the time difference based on the trajectory of the path. However, the routing information may be not detailed enough to guarantee sufficient precision for Sagnac correction. Thus, nodes along the path must be surveyed with a certain sparsity. We provide a practical method for estimating the average distance of these nodes. Six simulated paths are generated to validate the method for different uncertainties.