Power delivery in submarine optical communication systems using power feed converters
AssigneeSubcom, LLC
InventorMaxim A. Bolshtyansky
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A submarine optical communication system using one or more power feed converters for power delivery to repeaters. Power feed equipment located one or more a landmasses is coupled to a power conductor of an optical cable for powering repeaters coupled to cable. One or more power feed converter(s) are coupled to the power conductor for converting current from power feed equipment to a constant output current or voltage for powering other repeaters coupled to the cable. Embodiments are robust to shunts of the power conductor.
Claims19
A system for providing communications between a first location and a second location, comprising:
- an optical cable configured to propagate optical data signals between the first location and the second location;
- a power conductor disposed within the optical cable, the power conductor having a first end at the first location and a second end at the second location;
- a plurality of repeaters coupled along the length of the optical cable for amplifying the optical data signals, each of the plurality of repeaters being electrically coupled to the power conductor;
- and
- at least one power feed converter electrically coupled to the power conductor, the power feed converter configured to receive an input current and provide a constant output current or voltage to the power conductor, and
- wherein the constant output current or voltage is configured to establish a voltage at the second end of the power conductor of approximately zero volts.
A system for providing communications between a first location and a second location, comprising:
- an optical cable configured to propagate optical data signals between the first location and the second location;
- a power conductor disposed within the optical cable, the power conductor having a first end at the first location and a second end at the second location;
- a number M of repeaters coupled along the optical cable between the first location and the second location for amplifying the optical data signals, each of the plurality of repeaters being electrically coupled to the power conductor;
- and
- a first power feed converter electrically coupled to the power conductor with a second number N of the M repeaters;
- a second power feed converter electrically coupled to the power conductor with a third number Y of the M repeaters, and
- wherein each of the first and second power feed converters is configured to operate in a conversion mode for converting an input current to an associated constant output current or voltage coupled to the power conductor, and
- wherein at least one of the first and second power feed converters is configured to operate in a bypass mode upon occurrence of a shunt of the power conductor such that the at least one first power feed converter or the second power feed converter passes input current through to the power conductor without converting the input current into the associated constant output voltage or current.
A method of powering a plurality of repeaters coupled to an optical cable between a first location and a second location, the optical cable configured to propagate optical signals between the first and second locations, and a power conductor electrically coupled to the plurality of repeaters, the method comprising:
- coupling a first power feed converter to the power conductor;
- establishing an input current to power a first number of the repeaters coupled to the power conductor;
- receiving the input current at the first power feed converter and converting the input current to a constant output voltage or current in the first power feed converter;
- and
- coupling the constant output voltage or current to the power conductor for powering a second number of the repeaters coupled to the power conductor, and
- wherein the constant output current or voltage is configured to establish a voltage at an end of the optical cable at the second location of approximately zero volts.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.