Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a wireless telecommunications network.

Background

In wireless telecommunications, a wireless signal is transmitted at a particular power level and its signal strength decreases with distance from the transmitter based on the path loss of the transmission environment. The wireless signal cannot be detected once its signal strength is no longer detectable above a background noise level at a receiver. Accordingly, the wireless signal has a maximum range defined by its transmit power, the path loss of its transmission environment and the background noise level.

In cellular telecommunications networks, wireless signals are transmitted between base stations and User Equipment (UE). An example cellular telecommunications network is shown in Figure 1, illustrating a base station and a UE and their respective coverage areas. In this scenario, the UE cannot receive wireless signals from the base station and, in the absence of alternatives, cannot receive voice or data service. Furthermore, as the base station is outside the UE’s coverage area, it cannot receive wireless signals from the UE. The skilled person will understand that this problem is experienced in other forms of wireless telecommunications, such as in Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), where two devices of the network cannot communicate as they are located outside the other device’s respective coverage area.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a waveguide comprising: a sequence of variable transparency segments, wherein each variable transparency segment of the sequence of variable transparency segments is configured to vary its transparency by the Electromagnetically Induced Transparency, EIT, effect and further vary its transparency in response to an incident electromagnetic field; and a plurality of separator segments interspersed within the sequence of variable transparency segments so that each variable transparency segment: has a first separation distance from a first other variable transparency segment being a first predetermined number of variable transparency segments preceding or succeeding in the sequence of variable transparency segments, has a second separation distance from a second other variable transparency segment being a second predetermined number of variable transparency segments preceding or succeeding in the sequence of variable transparency segments, and is uniquely identified by a combination of separation distances comprising its first and second separation distances.

By being a first predetermined number of variable transparency segments preceding or succeeding in the sequence of variable transparency segments, the first other variable transparency segment may be at a (n+x) ^th position in the sequence of variable transparency segments ( n representing the position in the sequence of a particular variable transparency segment and x being a positive or negative integer which is constant for all values of n). Similarly, by being a second predetermined number of variable transparency segments preceding or succeeding in the sequence of variable transparency segments, the second other variable transparency segment may be at a (n+y) ^th position in the sequence of variable transparency segments ( n representing the position in the sequence of the particular variable transparency segment and y being a positive or negative integer which is constant for all values of n). Thus, the present invention may further be defined as: a waveguide comprising: a sequence of N variable transparency segments, wherein each variable transparency segment of the sequence of variable transparency segments is configured to vary its transparency by the Electromagnetically Induced Transparency, EIT, effect and further vary its transparency in response to an incident electromagnetic field; and a plurality of separator segments interspersed within the sequence of variable transparency segments so that each variable transparency segment, indexed by n\ has a first separation distance from a first other variable transparency segment at a (n+x) ^th position in the sequence of variable transparency segments, has a second separation distance from a second other variable transparency segment at a (n+y) ^th position in the sequence of variable transparency segments, and is uniquely identified by a combination of separation distances comprising its first and second separation distances; wherein x and y are positive or negative integers which are constant for all values of n.

The first other variable transparency segment may be preceding in the sequence of variable transparency segments and the second other variable transparency segment may be succeeding in the sequence variable transparency segments. Furthermore, the first other variable transparency segment may be immediately preceding in the sequence of variable transparency segments and the second other variable transparency segment may be immediately succeeding in the sequence variable transparency segments.

The first and/or second separation distance may be a classification in either a first or second distance category.

Each variable transparency segment may include a metal vapour. The metal vapour may be of an alkali metal, such as Rubidium, Caesium or Strontium.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a system having a first waveguide of the first aspect of the invention and a second waveguide of the first aspect of the invention, wherein corresponding variable transparency segments of the sequence of variable transparency segments of the first and second waveguides are collocated such that the separation distance between each pair of variable transparency segments in the first waveguide is the same as the separation distance between each corresponding pair of variable transparency segments in the second waveguide.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an electromagnetic field detector comprising: a first optical transmitter, a first optical receiver, and a first waveguide of the first aspect of the invention, wherein: the first optical transmitter and first optical receiver terminate opposing ends of the first waveguide, and the first optical transmitter is configured to: transmit a probe signal to the first optical receiver via the first waveguide at a probe frequency, wherein the probe frequency is set to excite electrons of each variable transparency segment of the first waveguide from a first state to a second state, and transmit a coupling signal via the first waveguide at a coupling frequency, wherein the coupling frequency is set to excite electrons of each variable transparency segment of the first waveguide to a predetermined state so as to vary the transparency of each variable transparency segment to the probe signal by the Electromagnetic Induced Transparency, EIT, effect and so that an electromagnetic field incident at each variable transparency segment of the first waveguide further varies the transparency of the probe signal at that variable transparency segment so as to cause a detectable change in power of the probe signal at the first optical receiver.

The detector may further comprise a second optical transmitter; a second optical receiver; and a second waveguide of the first aspect of the invention, wherein: corresponding variable transparency segments of the sequence of variable transparency segments of the first and second waveguides are collocated such that the separation distance between each pair of variable transparency segments in the first waveguide is the same as the separation distance between each corresponding pair of variable transparency segments in the second waveguide, the second optical transmitter and second optical receiver terminate opposing ends of the second waveguide, and the second optical transmitter is configured to: transmit a second probe signal via the second waveguide at the probe frequency, and transmit a second coupling signal via the second waveguide at the coupling frequency so as to vary the transparency of each variable transparency segment of the second waveguide to the probe signal by the EIT effect and so that an electromagnetic field incident at each variable transparency segment of the second waveguide further varies the transparency of the probe signal at that variable transparency segment so as to cause a detectable change in power of the probe signal at the second optical receiver.

The first optical transmitter may also be the second optical transmitter and the first optical receiver may also be the second optical receiver.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of operating an electromagnetic field detector, the detector comprising a first waveguide of the first aspect of the invention, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting a first probe signal along the first waveguide at a probe frequency and at a first transmission power value, wherein the probe frequency is set to excite electrons of each variable transparency segment of the first waveguide from a first state to a second state; transmitting a coupling signal along the first waveguide at a coupling frequency, wherein the coupling frequency is set to excite electrons of each variable transparency segment of the first waveguide to a predetermined state so as to vary the transparency of each variable transparency segment of the first waveguide to the first probe signal by the Electromagnetic Induced Transparency, EIT, effect and so that an electromagnetic field incident at each variable transparency segment of the first waveguide further varies the transparency of the first probe signal at that variable transparency segment so as to cause a detectable change in power of the first probe signal; monitoring the first probe signal; detecting, within the monitored first probe signal, a first plurality of attenuation events, wherein each attenuation event of the first plurality of attenuation events is identifiable as a reduction in the power of the monitored first probe signal relative to the first transmission power value and each attenuation event of the first plurality of attenuation events is associated with a reception time; correlating the reception times of each attenuation event of the first plurality of attenuation events with the unique combination of separation distances to associate each of the first plurality of attenuation events with a variable transparency segment of the first waveguide; for a subset of the associated variable transparency segments, determining a distance between each associated variable transparency segment and a transmitter of the electromagnetic field; and determining a location of the transmitter based on the determined distances between each associated variable transparency segment and the transmitter.

The electromagnetic field detector may further comprise a second waveguide of the first aspect of the invention, wherein corresponding variable transparency segments of the sequence of variable transparency segments of the first and second waveguides are collocated such that the separation distance between each pair of variable transparency segments in the first waveguide is the same as the separation distance between each corresponding pair of variable transparency segments in the second waveguide, and the method may further comprise the steps of: transmitting a second probe signal along the second waveguide at the probe frequency and at a second transmission power value; transmitting a second coupling signal along the second waveguide at the coupling frequency, monitoring the second probe signal; and detecting, within the monitored second probe signal, a second plurality of attenuation events, wherein each attenuation event of the second plurality of attenuation events is identifiable as a reduction in the power of the monitored second probe signal relative to the second transmission power value and each attenuation event of the second plurality of attenuation events is associated with a reception time, wherein the correlation step includes correlating the reception times of attenuation events from either the first or second plurality of attenuation events with the unique combination of separation distances to associate each of the first or second plurality of attenuation events with a variable transparency segment of the first or second waveguide.

The first and second probe signal may be transmitted in opposing directions.

The method may further comprise the steps of: transmitting a first calibration probe signal along the first waveguide at the probe frequency and at a first calibration transmission power value; transmitting a second calibration probe signal along the second waveguide at the probe frequency and at a second calibration transmission power value; transmitting a first calibration coupling signal along the first waveguide at the coupling frequency; transmitting a second calibration coupling signal along the second waveguide at the coupling frequency, transmitting a plurality of calibration electromagnetic waves, each from a known location, wherein each calibration electromagnetic wave of the plurality of calibration electromagnetic waves incident at each variable transparency segment of the first waveguide and second waveguide varies the transparency of the calibration probe signal at that variable transparency segment so as to cause a detectable change in the power of the calibration probe signal; monitoring the first and second calibration probe signals; detecting, within the monitored first and second calibration probe signals, a first plurality of calibration attenuation events and a second plurality of calibration attenuation events respectively, wherein each calibration attenuation event of the first plurality of calibration attenuation events is identifiable as a reduction in the power of the monitored first calibration probe signal relative to the first calibration transmission power value and each calibration attenuation event of the first plurality of calibration attenuation events is associated with a reception time, and each calibration attenuation event of the second plurality of calibration attenuation events is identifiable as a reduction in the power of the monitored second calibration probe signal relative to the second calibration transmission power value and each calibration attenuation event of the second plurality of calibration attenuation events is associated with a reception time; and determining whether an attenuation event of the first plurality of attenuation events of the first monitored probe signal or the second plurality of attenuation events of the second monitored probe signal should be used in the correlation step based on the reception times of the first plurality of calibration attenuation events of the monitored first calibration probe signal and the reception times of the second plurality of calibration attenuation events of the monitored second calibration probe signal.

The electromagnetic field may be a Radio Frequency, RF, field.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the method of the fourth aspect of the invention. The computer program may be stored on a computer-readable data carrier. Brief Description of the Figures

In order that the present invention may be better understood, embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a cellular telecommunications network of the prior art; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a Rydberg atom based Radio Frequency (RF) detector;

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an optical fibre of a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an RF detector including the optical fibre of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a location determination technique of a first embodiment of a method of the present invention;

Figure 6 is a graph illustrating relative positions of various components of the RF detector of Figure 4 in the method of Figure 5;

Figures 7a, 7b and 7c are schematic diagrams illustrating an RF pulse affecting three Hollow Core Fibres (HCFs) of the RF detector at first, second and third time instances respectively;

Figure 7d is a graph illustrating the ratio of the received power to the transmitted power of a probe signal of the RF detector as affected in the scenario of Figures 7a to 7c; Figure 8a is a graph illustrating the ratio of the received power to the transmitted power of a probe signal on a first optical fibre of the RF detector of Figure 4, implementing the method of Figure 5;

Figure 8b is a graph illustrating the ratio of the received power to the transmitted power of a probe signal on a second optical fibre of the RF detector of Figure 4, implementing the method of Figure 5;

Figure 9 is a flow diagram illustrating a calibration technique of the first embodiment of the method of the present invention;

Figure 10 includes four histograms illustrating the frequency of time differences between adjacent attenuation events for the first optical fibre and second optical fibre for both downstream and upstream attenuation events; and

Figure 11 includes four histograms illustrating the frequency of time differences between adjacent attenuation events for a first alternative optical fibre and second alternative optical fibre for both downstream and upstream attenuation events. Detailed Description of Embodiments

A first embodiment of a Radio Frequency (RF) detector of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figures 2 to 4. This first embodiment utilises an RF detector based on a Rydberg atom (sometimes referred to as an “atomic receiver”). An overview of the Rydberg atom and a Rydberg atom based RF detector is presented below.

A Rydberg atom is an atom with one or more electrons excited to a very high principal quantum number. These Rydberg atoms have several useful properties, such as very large dipole moments and long decay periods. These properties can be exploited to create an RF detector that may receive and demodulate RF fields over very large frequency ranges (e.g. from hundreds of MHz to 1 THz).

The principle of operation of a Rydberg atom based RF detector will now be described with reference to Figure 2. An atomic medium is provided which, in this example, is a glass cavity filled with a low density vapour of alkali metal atoms (such as Rubidium-85). Each Rubidium-85 atom has a number of electron states, including the ground state and a plurality of excited states. The outer electron of the Rubidium-85 atom may be excited (e.g. by absorbing a photon of a particular wavelength) from the ground state to an excited state. The electron may then decay from the excited state to a lower excited state (that is, an excited state at a lower energy level) or to the ground state. However, some of these transitions are not allowed as they are dipole forbidden.

In the Rydberg atom based RF detector, a first laser (known as a “probe” laser) is passed through the atomic medium at a first wavelength which corresponds to the energy required to elevate the Rubidium-85 atom’s outer electron from its ground state (|1>) to a first excited state (|2>). A second laser (known as a “coupling” laser) is also passed through the atomic medium in an opposing direction at a relatively large power level (compared to the probe laser) and at a second wavelength which corresponds to the energy required to elevate the Rubidium-85 atom’s outer electron from the first excited state (|2>) to a Rydberg state (|3>). The transition from the Rydberg state (|3>) to the ground state (|1>) is forbidden so that the ground state becomes depopulated and so fewer atoms can absorb the probe laser operating at the first wavelength. Accordingly, the atomic medium becomes more transparent to the probe laser so that it is observable at an optical detector. This phenomenon is known as Electromagnetically Induced Transparency (EIT) and the received signal is known as the EIT signal. Specifically, the above description is of a ladder scheme, but the skilled person would understand that EIT may be realised through alternative electron transitions, such as the Vee and Lambda schemes.

Once the atomic medium has become transparent to the probe laser, then a further physical effect can be exploited to detect RF electric fields. As the Rubidium-85 atom’s outer electron is much further away from the atomic nucleus when in the Rydberg state compared to the ground state, a large dipole moment is created and it becomes responsive to incident RF fields. An incident RF field causes a further transition of an electron from the Rydberg state (|3>) to an adjacent Rydberg state (|4>) when the photon energy of the RF field matches the energy required for the electron to transition from the Rydberg state to the adjacent Rydberg state. If the transition from the adjacent Rydberg state (|4>) to the ground state (|1>) is not forbidden, then electrons may subsequently drop to the ground state so that the atomic medium becomes less transparent to the probe laser, causing a drop in amplitude of the EIT signal. This drop in amplitude of the EIT signal is directly proportional to the incident RF field’s amplitude, thus creating a Rydberg atom based RF detector for Amplitude Modulated (AM) signals. A more detailed explanation of this effect (in particular the splitting of the optical transparency region due to the presence of the incident RF field and its correlation with the field’s amplitude, can be found in article, “A Multiple-Band Rydberg atom Based Receiver/Antenna: AM/FM Stereo Reception”, Holloway et al., National Institute of Standards and Technology).

Furthermore, a Rydberg atom based RF detector for Frequency Modulated (FM) signals works in a similar manner. That is, when the frequency of the RF field changes (or “detunes”) from the frequency required for the transition between the Rydberg state and the adjacent Rydberg state, the EIT signal splits into two non-symmetrical peaks. The separation of the two peaks increases with RF detuning. By locking the probe laser and coupling laser to particular frequencies, then the optical detector output is directly correlated to the FM RF field.

Rydberg atom based RF detectors may also be used to detect phase modulated RF fields, such as those of Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK), Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK), and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) signals (used in many wireless and cellular communications protocols). In these modulation schemes, data is transmitted by modulating the phase of a carrier. To detect the carrier’s phase, a reference RF field being on-resonance with the transition to the Rydberg state is applied to the atomic medium, which acts as a local oscillator. The difference frequency (between those of the carrier and the reference RF field), or “intermediate frequency”, is detected and the phase of the intermediate frequency signal corresponds directly to the relative phase between the local oscillator and the incident RF field.

Regardless of the modulation scheme used (amplitude, frequency or phase), the Rydberg atom based RF detector may be configured to detect RF fields of a specific frequency by selecting a particular second wavelength of the coupling laser so that the electrons of the atomic medium are elevated to a particular Rydberg state. This Rydberg state is selected so that photons at the specific frequency to be detected will elevate electrons from this Rydberg state to its adjacent Rydberg state, thus creating a detectable change in the EIT signal that may be observed at the optical detector.

Figure 3 illustrates a first optical fibre 10 of the Rydberg atom based RF detector 1 of this first embodiment. The first optical fibre 10 is a composite optical fibre having alternating segments of Single Mode Fibre (SMF) 11 and Hollow Core Fibre (HCF) 13. In this embodiment, the first optical fibre 10 is around 1 kilometre in length and is constructed of 64 HCF segments, each around 2 centimetres long. Each HCF segment 13 includes an optical cavity 15 containing a vapour of alkali metal (in this example, Rubidium-85).

In this embodiment, the length of each SMF segment (or in other words, the separation distance of a pair of HCF segments either side of the SMF segment) is classified as either ‘short’ or ‘long’, in which a short classification is below a classification threshold and a long classification is above the classification threshold. The short SMF segments may be of any length (and may all be the same length) so long as they are below the classification threshold. Similarly, the long SMF segments may be of any length (and may all be the same length) so long as they are above the classification threshold. This will be discussed in more detail in the description of the first embodiment of the method of the present invention, below. Figure 4 illustrates the Rydberg atom based RF detector 1 of this first embodiment, having a first optical fibre 10, a second optical fibre 20 (in this example, identical to the first optical fibre 10), a probe laser 30, and a coupling laser 40. The probe laser 30 is configured to transmit a probe signal, which is split at a first optical splitter 50 coupled to both the first and second optical fibre 10, 20 so that the probe signal passes through both the first and second optical fibre 10, 20. The probe signal propagating on the first optical fibre 10 is directed by a second optical splitter 60 towards a first photodetector 70. The probe signal propagating on the second optical fibre 20 is directed by a third optical splitter 80 towards a second photodetector 90.

The coupling laser 40 is configured to transmit a coupling signal, which is split at a fourth optical splitter 100 coupled to both the first and second optical fibre 10, 20 so that the coupling signal passes through both the first and second optical fibre 10, 20 (in an opposing direction to the probe signal). The coupling signal is split by fifth and sixth optical splitters 110, 120 towards respective non-reflecting terminations.

In this embodiment, the probe signal is on-resonance with the transition of an electron of a Rubidium-85 atom within each HCF core of the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 from a ground state to a first excited state. Furthermore, the coupling signal is on- resonance with the transition of an electron of a Rubidium-85 atom within each HCF core of the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 from the first excited state to a predetermined Rydberg state. In this configuration, as described above, the Rydberg atom based RF detector 1 experiences the EIT effect and the probe signal will pass through both the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 (in other words, the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 are transparent to the probe signal). In this example, it is assumed that there are no other sources of signal attenuation, such that the Rydberg atom based RF detector is fully transparent to the probe signal. The skilled person will understand that to achieve the EIT effect along the whole length of the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 then the density of the vapour in the HCF segments, the number of HCF segments, and the power of the coupling laser must be selected so that the EIT effect is experienced in all HCF segments. That is, the coupling signal will be partially attenuated by each HCF segment in each of the first and second optical fibres 10, 20, so the coupling laser must transmit at a power so that (for a given number of HCF segments and given density of vapour in the HCF segments), the coupling signal is of sufficient power to elevate the electrons in the final HCF segment to the Rydberg state, thus fully depopulating the ground state in the final HCF segment and causing the final HCF segment to be fully transparent to the probe signal.

As discussed above, the Rydberg state may be selected by the precise choice of coupling frequency so that an incident RF field of a specific frequency may be detected by the first and second photodetectors 70, 90. For example, by using a coupling signal having a wavelength of 479.428nm, the electron may be elevated to the 84 ^th Rydberg state. An incident RF field having a frequency of 3.460GHz would elevate the electron from this 84 ^th Rydberg state to the adjacent 85 ^th Rydberg state, so that the incident RF field at any one of the HCF segments of the first or second optical fibre 10, 20 would cause a change in transparency of the probe signal in the HCF segment, detectable at the respective photodetector 70, 90.

A first embodiment of a method of the present invention will now be described. Figure 6 illustrates the base station 5, UE 7 and Rydberg atom based RF detector 1 (including all 64 constituent HCF segments), in which the relative positions are illustrated on a graph. In this embodiment, for ease of explanation, the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 of the Rydberg atom based RF detector 1 extend in a circle from the base station 5 (so that the centre of the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 correlate to the origin of the graph, and the base station is positioned at x=162.75, y=0 on the graph), and the base station 5 includes the probe laser 30, coupling laser 40, first photodetector 70 and second photodetector 90. The position of each HCF segment of the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 (which are collocated) are known. These may be determined, for example, during a calibration phase in which the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) coordinates are obtained at the position of each HCF segment.

It is noted that the UE 7 is outside the base station’s coverage area and the base station 5 is outside the UE’s coverage area, so that they cannot communicate via wireless transmissions.

In this embodiment, the base station 5 and UE 7 are configured for communications according to the 5G cellular telecommunications protocol, as standardised by the 3 ^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The base station 5 and UE 7 therefore communicate using 10ms long radio frames. In a first step of this embodiment (step S1 of Figure 5), the probe laser transmits an amplitude modulated probe signal that repeats every 10ms, so as to match the radio frame length of an RF signal transmitted by the base station 5 or UE 7, and has a 64- step saw-tooth profile, so that the number of distinct amplitude steps match the number of HCF segments in both the first and second optical fibre 10, 20. The probe signal is transmitted in a first direction on the first optical fibre 10 (in this example, clockwise) whilst the probe signal is transmitted in a second, opposing, direction on the second optical fibre 20 (in this example, counter-clockwise).

In the absence of an incident RF field at the specific frequency to be detected (3. 460GHz in this example), then the probe signal will pass through both the first and second optical fibre 10, 20 without any attenuation (as all HCF segments of both the first and second optical fibre 10, 20 are fully transparent to the probe signal in the absence of the incident RF field) and are received at the first and second photodetector 70, 90. The received signals at the first and second photodetector will therefore have the same amplitude profile of the probe signal as transmitted by the probe laser. As the travel time of the probe signal is known to a very high accuracy, the received signal and transmitted signal can be compared to determine the attenuation of each step of the probe signal. Assuming negligible transmission losses, the attenuation of each step of the probe signal is OdB such that the ratio of the received power to transmitted power of the probe signal is 100%.

In this example, the UE 7 emits an RF field in a single pulse (hereinafter, the “RF pulse”). For ease of explanation, it is assumed that the RF pulse propagates in all directions with a common path loss (in this example, inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the UE 7). This RF pulse will therefore pass through each HCF segment of the first and second optical fibres 10, 20, and (as explained above) will cause a change in transparency of the probe signal passing through that HCF segment at that time. As the attenuation of the probe signal due to the RF pulse is proportional to the signal strength of the RF pulse as it passes through the HCF segment, and the signal strength of the RF pulse is inversely proportional to the square of the distance travelled by the RF pulse, then the attenuation of the probe signal will be greater for HCF segments that are closer to the UE 7 compared to the attenuation of the probe signal for HCF segments that are further away from the UE 7. To illustrate the effect in more detail, Figures 7a to 7c show a selection of three HCF segments (labelled A, B and C) of the first optical fibre (in which the probe signal propagates in a clockwise direction) and the UE 7 at first, second and third time instances following transmission of an RF pulse from the UE 7. Figure 7d is a graph illustrating the ratio of the received power to the transmitted power of the probe signal as received at the first photodetector. The distance between the UE 7 and the HCF segment B is less than the distance between the UE 7 and HCF segment A, which is in turn less than the distance between the UE 7 and HCF segment C. Furthermore, the distance between HCF segments B and C (that is, along the first optical fibre 10) is greater than the distance between HCF segments A and B.

Figure 7a illustrates the RF pulse at a first time instance (as illustrated by a dotted-line circle centred around the UE 7) in which the RF pulse is passing through the closest HCF segment, B, but has not yet reached HCF segments A and C. The RF pulse passes through HCF segment B and, during its passage, causes an attenuation of the strength of the probe signal passing through HCF segment B at that time. Figure 7b illustrates the RF pulse at a second time instance, subsequent to the first time instance, in which the RF pulse has propagated further from the UE 7 such that it is beyond HCF segment B, is passing through HCF segment A but has not yet reached HCF segment C. The RF pulse passes through HCF segment A and, during its passage, causes an attenuation of the strength of the probe signal passing through HCF segment A at that time. Figure 7c illustrates the RF pulse at a third time instance, subsequent to the second time instance, in which the RF pulse has propagated further from the UE 7 such that it is beyond HCF segments A and B and is now passing through HCF segment C. The RF pulse passes through HCF segment C and, during its passage, causes an attenuation of the strength of the probe signal passing through HCF segment C at that time. As the RF pulse is weaker during its passage of HCF segment C than during its passage of HCF segment A, and is weaker during its passage of HCF segment A than during its passage of HCF segment B (due to the relative distances and constant path loss), then the attenuation of the probe signal passing through HCF segment B during the passage of the RF pulse is greater than the attenuation of the probe signal passing through HCF segment A during the passage of the RF pulse, which is in turn greater than the attenuation of the probe signal passing through HCF segment C during the passage of the RF pulse. Figure 7d illustrates the monitored signal at the first photodetector 70, which illustrates the ratio of the received probe signal to the transmitted signal, so as to indicate the strength of the attenuation of the probe signal against time. The first attenuation received at the first photodetector 70 is that of HCF segment C (which is closest to the first photodetector 70), the second attenuation received at the first photodetector 70 is that of HCF segment B, and the third attenuation received at the first photodetector 70 is that of HCF segment A. It is noted that the separation in time between these attenuations is a combination of both the time difference between the RF pulse arriving at the respective HCF segments and the time difference for the probe signal to traverse the first optical fibre 10 between the respective HCF segments. Furthermore, it is noted that the time difference between the RF pulse arriving at the respective HCF segments causes the attenuations to be either further apart or closer together than they would appear if the RF pulse passed through the HCF segments at the same time depending on whether the HCF segment that is subsequently affected by the RF pulse is closer to or further away from the first photodetector than the HCF segment that was previously affected by the RF pulse. In this example, the attenuation of the probe signal for HCF segment A appears further away from the attenuation of the probe signal for HCF segment B as HCF segment A is further away from the first photodetector 70 (and so the probe signal moves towards the first photodetector 70, and away from HCF segment A, in the time period between the first and second time instances), and the attenuation of the probe signal for HCF segment C appears closer to the attenuation of the probe signal for HCF segment B as HCF segment C is closer to the first photodetector 70 (and so the probe signal moves towards the first photodetector 70, and towards HCF segment C, in the time period between the first and third time instances).

In step S3, the first and second photodetectors 70 monitor the probe signals passing along the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 respectively. Examples of the monitored probe signals in the first and second optical fibres are shown in Figure 8a and Figure 8b respectively, which illustrates the attenuations on all 64 HCF segments caused by the RF pulse.

In step S5, the greatest attenuation event in each monitored probe signal is identified (the greatest attenuation event is marked as “MAX” in Figures 8a and 8b for both the first and second optical fibres 10, 20). As discussed above, this greatest attenuation event corresponds to the attenuation caused on the probe signal passing through the HCF segment that is closest to the UE 7. The following is noted regarding terminology. The first optical fibre 10 has a clockwise probe signal, so that the attenuation events that are received at the first photodetector 70 in advance of the greatest attenuation event are associated with HCF segments that are in a “downstream” direction of the HCF segment associated with the greatest attenuation event, and the attenuation events that are received at the first photodetector 70 after the greatest attenuation event are associated with HCF segments that are in an “upstream” direction of the HCF segment associated with the greatest attenuation event. Applying this terminology to the example of Figures 7a to 7c, HCF segment C is downstream of HCF segment B, and HCF segment A is upstream of HCF segment B. The second optical fibre 20 has an counter-clockwise probe signal, so that the attenuation events that are received at the second photodetector 90 in advance of the greatest attenuation event are associated with HCF segments that are in a “downstream” direction of the HCF segment associated with the greatest attenuation event, and the attenuation events that are received at the second photodetector 90 after the greatest attenuation event are associated with HCF segments that are “upstream” of the HCF segment associated with the greatest attenuation event. Thus, the terms clockwise and counter-clockwise are used to describe the direction of the probe signals in the optical fibres, the term “upstream” is used to describe points along the optical fibre that are in an opposing direction to the probe signal’s direction of travel along the optical fibre, and the term “downstream” is used to describe points along the optical fibre that are in the same direction of the probe signal’s direction of travel along the optical fibre.

In step S7, the base station 5 determines the reception time of the greatest attenuation event and the reception time of each of the three attenuation events immediately downstream of the greatest attenuation event and each of the three attenuation events immediately upstream of the greatest attenuation event. The base station 5 also records these time differences for the second optical fibre 20. The base station 5 then calculates the time difference between each attenuation event and its adjacent attenuation event. These attenuation events are illustrated in Figures 8a and 8b and the time differences (of this example) are illustrated in the table below.

Table 1 : Table illustrating the received time of attenuation events either side of the greatest attenuation event in the first and second optical fibres 10, 20

In step S9, the base station 5 identifies the HCF segment associated with the greatest attenuation event (in other words, the HCF segment that is closest to the UE 7). This is achieved by, firstly, determining whether the time differences of attenuation events associated upstream and/or downstream HCF segments from the greatest attenuation event are useful data for this identification. This will be explained in more detail below in relation to the calibration phase, but, for the purposes of this embodiment, it is determined that the downstream attenuation events (N-3, N-2, N-1) for the first optical fibre 10 are not useful, the upstream attenuation events (N+1 , N+2, N+3) for the first optical fibre 10 are useful, the upstream attenuation events (N-3, N-2, N-1) for the second optical fibre 20 are useful, and the downstream attenuation events (N+1, N+2, N+3) for the second optical fibre 20 are not useful. The useful data is highlighted by underlining in Table 1.

Secondly, it is determined whether the time difference between each two adjacent attenuation events are associated with either a long or short separation distance (i.e. long or short SMF segments separating two adjacent HCF segments associated with the two attenuation events). This is achieved by comparing the time difference to a classification threshold, which in this example is 90ns. The classification threshold is determined in the calibration phase, discussed below.

In this example, the adjacent attenuation events are classified as shown in Table 2, below:

Table 2: Table illustrating the classifications of each attenuation event based on its time difference

The time differences between each two adjacent attenuation events are based, in part, on the time it takes for the probe signal to travel between the HCF segments associated with each attenuation event (and thus the separation distance between these HCF segments). Thus, by manufacturing the optical fibres 10, 20 so that the spacing between a given HCF segment and its three upstream and three downstream HCF segments are unique to that HCF segment, these classifications can be used as a signature to identify the HCF segment associated with the greatest attenuation event. In the above example, the spacing classifications are long-short-long-short-short-short, or 101000 in binary. Thus, once this classification code has been determined, the classification code is compared to a lookup table to identify the corresponding HCF segment (this lookup table is again determined in the calibration phase). In this example, HCF segment 57 is identified as the HCF segment being associated with the greatest attenuation event and is therefore the closest HCF segment to the UE 7.

In step 11 , the distance between the closest HCF segment to the UE 7 and of at least two other HCF segments to the UE 7 are calculated as:

In which,

D _N is the distance between a first HCF segment, N, and the UE 7,

AT _N is the time an RF pulse (transmitted by the UE 7) attenuates a first HCF segment N, ATM is the time the RF pulse attenuates a second HCF segment M,

T _M ,N is the time difference for an optical pulse to travel between the first HCF segment, N, and the second HCF segment, M,

AM is the magnitude of the attenuation event associated with the second HCF segment, M, and A _N is the magnitude of the attenuation event associated with the first HCF segment, N.

The above equation is derived from the following analysis. It is known that the RF pulse travels between the UE 7 and the first HCF segment, N, at the speed of light in free space: c = R °FT ^N _{N «} 03m '/ns (1)

Where RFT _N is the arrival time of the RF pulse at the first HCF segment, N.

It is also assumed that there is a constant path loss for the RF pulse between the UE 7 and the first HCF segment, L/:

A _N = (2)

^U N

Where P is a constant and assumed to be equal among all HCF segments.

The time difference between the reception time of an attenuation event at the second HCF segment M and the reception time of an attenuation event at the first HCF segment N can be expressed as:

AT _M — AT _N ⁼ T _{M N} + RFT _M — RFT _N (3)

Rearranging equations (1) to (3), and assuming constant P is constant among all HCF segments, then the following solutions may be derived:

AT _M — AT N _N — T ¹ M, ,N

RFT _N =

L * ( ^" 7= -7=)

Viv In step S13, the location of the UE 7 is determined based on the distances between the UE 7 and several HCF segments, and the locations of each of those HCF segments, using known multilateration techniques.

The method of this first embodiment may be used to locate a UE 7 when the base station 5 is out of range of the UE. In the above example, the base station 5 and UE 7 are out of range as wireless transmissions from the UE 7 cannot be detected by the base station’s antenna above the background noise. The skilled person will understand that base stations traditionally use dipole antennas for receiving signals from UEs. However, as Rydberg atom based RF detectors may be several orders of magnitude more sensitive than traditional antennae, then the Rydberg atom based RF detector may react to a low strength transmission from the UE 7 and be processed to locate the UE 7. Once the base station 5 has determined the location of the UE 7, this information may be used to improve connectivity between the base station 5 and UE 7. For example, the base station 5 may use this position information to transmit (or refine) a beam in the direction of the UE 7. Furthermore, the position may be determined at multiple time instances (by repeating the above method) in order to determine a direction of travel of the UE. This may be used to identify a base station whose coverage area will soon cover the UE, so as to enable a proactive transition mechanism or so that the base station and/or UE may configure in advance of the UE’s arrival. The base station may therefore establish communications with the UE sooner than would otherwise be possible.

A calibration technique will now be described with reference to Figures 9 and 10. This calibration technique is suitable for defining various parameters used in the first location determination process detailed above. The first and second optical fibres 10, 20 include 64 HCF segments separated by sections of SMF segments. The SMF segments may be classified as either ‘long’ or ‘short’ in length. In this embodiment, the first and second optical fibres 10, 20 are manufactured to have a ratio of three long separations for every one short separation. Furthermore, the optical fibres 10, 20 are manufactured so that the combination of lengths of three SMF segments to one side of a particular HCF segment and lengths of three SMF segments to the other side of that HCF segment is unique to that HCF segment. In the embodiment above, the combination of long-short- long-short-short-short uniquely identified HCF segment 57. Thus, in step S101 of this calibration, a lookup table is defined during the optical fibre manufacture which defines a signature for each HCF segment of the optical fibres 10, 20. Once manufactured, the optical fibres 10, 20 are deployed to their operational site. In step S103, the position of each HCF segment of the optical fibres 10, 20 is determined. In this example, the position is determined using a GNSS receiver (e.g. during a drive test).

The lookup table from step S101 and HCF segment locations from step S103 are stored in memory on the base station 5.

In the location determination process detailed above, the base station 5 determines whether the upstream and downstream data for the first and second optical fibres is useful or not. In step S105 of this calibration technique, this is determined in the following manner. First, a plurality of test RF pulses are transmitted, each from a unique test location and at a unique time (both location and time data are recorded for each test RF pulse). Second, the received probe signal is detected at the first and second photodetector for each test RF pulse. Similar to the first embodiment above, the greatest attenuation event is identified in each received probe signal and the time differences between adjacent attenuation events for three upstream adjacent attenuation event pairs and three downstream adjacent attenuation event pairs are calculated. As the location of the closest HCF segment is known (as the location of the test RF pulse is known), then the separation distances between HCF segments associated with these time differences can be identified. This step is performed for each test RF pulse, resulting in a dataset correlating (for both the clockwise and counter-clockwise probe signals and for both upstream and downstream HCF segments) short separation distances with a set of time differences and long separation distances with another set of time differences. This dataset is illustrated in the histograms of Figure 10, showing the density of time differences for both short and long separation distances for upstream HCF segments in the clockwise probe signal of the first optical fibre 10, the density of time differences for both short and long separation distances for downstream HCF segments in the clockwise probe signal of the first optical fibre 10, the density of time differences for both short and long separation distances for upstream HCF segments in the counter-clockwise probe signal in the second optical fibre 20, and the density of time differences for both short and long separation distances for downstream HCF segments in the counter-clockwise probe signal of the second optical fibre 20. It can be seen that there is an overlap in the time differences associated with short and long separation distances of downstream HCF segments for the counter-clockwise probe signal and of downstream HCF segments for the clockwise probe signal. This indicates that such data from downstream HCF segments for the counter-clockwise probe signal and from downstream HCF segments for the counter-clockwise probe signal is not useful in the method of the first embodiment, as (when the location of the RF pulse is not known) then one cannot reliably classify time differences as being associated with long or short separation distances. However, the histograms also illustrate that data from upstream HCF segments for the clockwise probe signal and from upstream HCF segments for the counter-clockwise probe signal are useful in the method of the first embodiment, as there is a clear difference (i.e. no overlap) between time differences associated with short and long separation distances. These histograms can also be used to identify a suitable time difference classification threshold to be used in the first embodiment. This may be any time difference between the longest time difference associated with short SMF segments and the shortest time difference associated with long SMF segments, or more preferably may be at or near halfway between these two extremes.

The above calibration technique to determine whether to use the upstream or downstream data is non-essential. Depending on the particular deployment of HCF segments about the optical fibre, the upstream and downstream of one or both optical fibres may become useful for the purposes of the first embodiment above. Figure 11 includes four histograms illustrating the density of time differences for long and short separation distances in alternative optical fibres for both clockwise and counter clockwise probe signals. These alternative optical fibres use a ratio of four long separation distances to every one short separation distance (in contrast to the three to one ratio used in the first embodiment). It can be seen that there are gaps between the short and long classifications for each histogram, illustrating that upstream and downstream data for both optical fibres may be used. Furthermore, the skilled person will also realise that the invention may be practiced using a single optical fibre, as the upstream data and downstream data for that single optical fibre are both useful (the second optical fibre may then optionally be deployed for consistency checks or for improved accuracy).

In the above embodiment, the time differences between three attenuation event pairs either side of the greatest attenuation event were correlated with the lookup table of separation distances between HCF segments in order to determine the identity of the HCF segment associated with the greatest attenuation event. This technique is preferable as these attenuation events have a greater signal to noise ratio over the background noise, reducing the error in the subsequent calculations. However, the skilled person will understand that this is non-essential. This may be illustrated by a further example, in which the optical fibre is manufactured so that the combination of separation distances for each HCF segment and the (say) 5 ^th HCF segment on one side of that HCF segment and the (say) 4 ^th HCF segment on the opposing side of that HCF segment is unique to that HCF segment, and the lookup table is defined to indicate the unique combination of separation distances between each HCF segment (N) and these other HCF segments (N-5, N+4). The probe signal may then be analysed to identify the time difference between the greatest attenuation event and the 5 ^th attenuation event on one side of the greatest attenuation event, and the time difference between the greatest attenuation event and the 4 ^th attenuation event on the other side of the greatest attenuation event, and match these time differences to the lookup table to identify the HCF segment associated with the greatest attenuation event. The optical fibre should therefore be manufactured so that each HCF segment has a unique combination of separation distances with several other HCF segments, these other HCF segments having a particular sequence relationship to that HCF segment. It is also non-essential that the sequence relationship to other HCF segments is to HCF segments either side of a particular HCF segment. Thus, in a further example, the optical fibre may be manufactured so that the combination of separation distances for each HCF segment and the (say) 5 ^th HCF segment on one side of that HCF segment and the (say) 4 ^th HCF segment on the same side of that HCF segment is unique to that HCF segment. Generally speaking, the optical fibre should therefore be manufactured so that each HCF segment within the sequence of HCF segments: has a first separation distance to a first other HCF segment being a particular number of HCF segments preceding or succeeding in the sequence, has a second separation distance to a second other HCF segment being a particular number of HCF segments preceding or succeeding in the sequence, and is uniquely identified by the first and second separation distances.

Furthermore, it is also non-essential that these time differences are based upon the greatest attenuation event. That is, the time differences between any attenuation event and the other attenuation events (having the particular sequence relationship) may be used in the correlation to the lookup table in order to identify the HCF segment associated with that attenuation event. However, as noted above, it is beneficial to use the greatest attenuation event as it would most likely have the greatest signal to noise ratio.

In the above embodiment, the HCF segments contain an atomic medium based on Rubidium-85 which may experience the EIT effect and have Rydberg states having energy differences that correlate with the photonic energy of frequencies used in wireless telecommunication protocols. The RF detector may therefore be configured to detect RF waves of a particular frequency by setting the coupling frequency to excite electrons to a particular Rydberg state, wherein the energy difference between that Rydberg state and the next Rydberg state matches the photonic energy of the RF wave to be detected. The skilled person will therefore understand that the use of Rubidium-85 is non-essential, and any atomic medium that may react to an RF wave so as to vary its transparency to the probe signal may be used in the above embodiment. The RF detector therefore does not need to be an end-to-end optical fibre, but may be any waveguide with interleaved optical fibre sections and variable transparency sections. Furthermore, it is also non- essential that the sections of optical fibre between the variable transparency sections are made of SMF (for example, multi-mode fibre may be used instead, or indeed any other waveguide).

It is also non-essential that the detector is configured to detect electromagnetic fields in the RF band of the electromagnetic spectrum. That is, the detector may be configured so that the variable transparency section varies it transparency in response to incident electromagnetic fields of other parts of the spectrum (e.g. by using an atomic medium with particular energy states and by selecting an appropriate coupling frequency, as described above). The method of the above embodiment may therefore be used as an electromagnetic field detector.

In the above embodiment, a ladder scheme EIT effect was used in the Rydberg atom based RF detector. However, the skilled person will understand that any other form of EIT effect may be used, such as lambda or vee.

Furthermore, it is non-essential that the probe and coupling signals are split for transmission along the first and second optical fibre. In an alternative arrangement, several probe lasers and several coupling lasers may be used to transmit the corresponding probe and coupling signals onto the first and second optical fibres respectively. It is also non-essential to use two separate lasers in which a first laser emits the probe signal and a second laser emits the coupling signal. That is, a single laser could be configured to emit the two separate signals (e.g. using a grating). Furthermore, it is non-essential for the probe and coupling signals to be counter- propagating. However, this is preferable as the Doppler shift effect may be ignored.

The skilled person will also understand that it is non-essential that the method is performed by the base station. The method may be performed by one or more suitable computing devices.

Insofar as embodiments of the invention described are implementable, at least in part, using a software-controlled programmable processing device, such as a microprocessor, digital signal processor or other processing device, data processing apparatus or system, it will be appreciated that a computer program for configuring a programmable device, apparatus or system to implement the foregoing described methods is envisaged as an aspect of the present invention. The computer program may be embodied as source code or undergo compilation for implementation on a processing device, apparatus or system or may be embodied as object code, for example.

Suitably, the computer program is stored on a carrier medium in machine or device readable form, for example in solid-state memory, magnetic memory such as disk or tape, optically or magneto-optically readable memory such as compact disk or digital versatile disk etc., and the processing device utilises the program or a part thereof to configure it for operation. The computer program may be supplied from a remote source embodied in a communications medium such as an electronic signal, radio frequency carrier wave or optical carrier wave. Such carrier media are also envisaged as aspects of the present invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, although the present invention has been described in relation to the above described example embodiments, the invention is not limited thereto and that there are many possible variations and modifications which fall within the scope of the invention.

The skilled person will understand that any combination of features is possible within the scope of the invention, as claimed.