Mark R. Hinds

Submarine cable upgrades

Abstract Submarine cable upgrades have changed markedly with the introduction of coherent transceiver technology. Adaptations taken from terrestrial networking created smart submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE), enabling efficient, remote, capacity additions. The combination of coherent impairment measurement and correction with the flexibility provided through the use of reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) devices provides real-time monitoring and correction of impairments and performance. In addition, the smart terminal enables flexible grid technology, which is compatible with existing and future transceiver technologies. These innovations required key developments in models, field trials, design methodologies, and power budget formulation to ensure successful implementation of coherent capacity upgrade installations. Submarine cable owners enjoy much larger capacities than originally envisioned using existing submarine cable assets. In addition, customers enjoy seamless connection to terrestrial networks as well as reduced equipment, software and operations costs. The economic life and competitiveness of submarine cables has been extended with coherent and smart SLTE technology.