Can communications and sensors work together in one network?

With the development of both optical fiber-based communication and sensation, one interesting topic has been pointed out. How to connect those mountains of sensors to detect the signal in a large area, and how to make the cost of sensing system lower enough should be studied. A network of sensors is a good option. All sensing equipments, including the interrogators and the sensors, will be internetworking together. However, fiber optic communication networks have been developed very well over the past two decades. Is it necessary to rebuild a new network for sensors? In this paper, some new technologies in the two areas of fiber optic sensors and fiber optic communication will be addressed. Then, the available overlay architecture of a fiber optic sensors network will be presented. Finally, a polymorphous optical burst switching (POBS)-based architecture will be proposed, which can support all kinds of services, including digital data optical circuit/burst/packet switching and analog fiber optic sensor signal circuit/burst switching, etc.