Understanding Submarine Optical Fibers

Posted by Kevin Miller on Tue, May 11, 2021 @ 08:05 AM

We’ve recently written about the importance of simulating submarine fiber networks in a lab environment for testing and training purposes, while highlighting the history and shifting investment dynamic in this arena.  A visit to Submarine Cable Map offers an interactive view of the breadth of fiber cabling crisscrossing the oceans of the world, demonstrating its critical importance to global communications.

Important Fiber Characteristics

While the deployment of submarine cables is frequently in the news with companies like Google and Facebook actively leading the charge, it’s important to also understand that these subsea cable links are constructed utilizing a different subset of optical fibers than what are typically used for the majority of land-based communications networks.

While still requiring single mode fiber due to its properties enabling signal transmission across longer distances, it’s critical that the fibers in submarine cables minimize attenuation (signal loss) to the greatest extent possible given the significantly longer distances involved which may be thousands of kilometers for a transoceanic link.  By minimizing attenuation, the optical signal can travel further along the fiber before a repeater is required, helping to then minimize the number of total repeaters and related costs across the subsea network.

Now, we’ll take a look at the particular subset of ultra-low loss single mode fiber that are specifically designed and manufactured for these submarine and transoceanic applications. 

ITU-T G.654 Standards

Submarine optical fibers are designed and manufactured to be ITU G.654 compliant, which according to the Fiber Optic Association is a single-mode fibre with a zero-dispersion wavelength around 1300nm, cut-off shifted and loss minimized around 1550nm, and optimized for use in the 1500-1600nm wavelength range.  Compared to standard G.652 single mode fibers used for most land-based applications that offer attenuation in the 0.18db/km-0.20db/km range, G.654 fibers for submarine applications typically offer an improved attenuation specification in the range of 0.15db/km-0.17db/km.

It is important to note that not all G.654 fibers are intended for submarine applications.  Typically, G.654A-D fibers are designed for these subsea applications, whereas the more recent G.654E is intended for terrestrial land-based applications requiring a lower loss fiber (ex: Corning® TXF®).

Corning®, OFS®, Prysmian®, and Sumitomo® are among the most recognized companies that offer a variety of subsea optical fibers, so let’s take a brief look at each.   

List of Leading Submarine Optical Fiber Manufacturers


Corning®

Product

Attenuation (1550 nm)

Aeff

Compliance

Corning® SMF-28® ULL S+ 

0.160 db/km

82 μm2

ITU-T G.654.C

Corning®  Vascade® EX2000

0.150 db/km

115 μm2

ITU-T G.654.B & G.654.D

Corning®  Vascade® EX3000

0.152 db/km

153 μm2

ITU-T G.654.D


OFS®

Product

Attenuation (1550 nm)

Aeff

Compliance

OFS TeraWave SLA+ Fiber

0.184 dB/Km

130 μm2

ITU-T G.654.B

OFS TeraWave® Scuba 125

0.158 dB/km

125 μm2

ITU-T G.654.B & G.654.D

OFS TeraWave® Scuba 150

0.155 dB/km

153 μm2

ITU-T G.654.D


Prysmian®

Product

Attenuation (1550 nm)

Aeff

Compliance

LongLine™ Optical Fiber

0.190 dB/km

120 μm2

ITU-T G.654.B

 

 

 

 


Sumitomo®

Click Here to view all Sumitomo fibers below

Product

Attenuation (1550 nm)

Aeff

Compliance

PureBand® Submarine

0.174 dB/km

81 μm2

ITU-T G.652.D

Z Fiber®

0.171 dB/km1

78 μm2

ITU-T G.654.C

Z-PLUS Fiber®

0.168 dB/km1

112 μm2

ITU-T G.654.B & G.654.D

Z-PLUS Fiber® 130

0.152 dB/km2

130 μm2

ITU-T G.654.D

Z-PLUS Fiber® 150

0.150 dB/km

150 μm2

ITU-T G.654.D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 - provided a STD, LL, and ULL on their datasheet. STD Used here

2 - ULL provided in their datasheet

Submarine Fibers for Testing, R&D, and Training

Do you require any of the fibers above for simulating submarine links and networks in your test lab or training environment?  

By partnering with M2 Optics and utilizing the globally recognized Fiber Lab solutions, you can specify any/all types of submarine fibers and lengths for simulating entire subsea fiber links and networks in the most space-efficient manner.  Whether you are developing and certifying subsea network gear or training engineers to support these critical systems, the M2 team will work with you to determine the ideal setup for your project requirements. 

To learn more about these fibers or to design a Fiber Lab, contact us today.       



Topics: optical fiber