Undersea optical fiber telecommunication system and method

A modular undersea optical fiber telecommunication system, comprising:

• a plurality of cable segments each containing optical fibers, the cable segments being connected together end-to-end in a predetermined sequence on an ocean floor to form a hybrid span, the optical fibers in each cable segment being of a different fiber type from the optical fibers in at least some of the other cable segments;
• each cable segment having a first end and a second end, a connector plug unit secured to the first end of the cable segment and a connector receptacle unit secured to the second end of the cable segment, each connector plug unit consisting of a first half of an underwater connector and each connector receptacle unit consisting of a second half of an underwater connector which is releasable mateable with the first half of an underwater connector:
• each connector plug unit having a plurality of first fiber optic contact terminals and each connector receptacle unit having a plurality of second fiber optic contact terminals, whereby the first and second fiber optic contact terminals are in optical contact when two halves of an underwater connector are releasably mated together;
• each optical fiber in each cable segment having a first end and a second end, the first end of the optical fiber being terminated to a respective one of the first fiber optic contact terminals in the plug unit of the respective cable segment and the second end of the optical fiber being terminated to a respective one of the second fiber optic contact terminals in the receptacle unit of the respective cable segment, and
• the cable segments being connected together end-to-end in the predetermined sequence along the length of the hybrid span via underwater connectors, each underwater connector consisting of the plug unit at the first end of one cable segment releasable mated with the adjacent receptacle unit of a successive cable segment in the span, whereby the optical fibers in each cable segment are connected end-to-end with the optical fibers in adjacent cable segments in the hybrid span, and the optical fibers in at least some successive cable segments are of different fiber types;
• the cable segments together forming the undersea optical fiber communication system extending over a predetermined distance of a plurality of kilometers undersea between remote land locations.

A method of installing a suboceanic hybrid optical fiber cable system, comprising the steps of:

• determining a desired hybrid span sequence of successive telecommunication cable segments of predetermined length, fiber count, and fiber type, each cable segment having a connector plug unit at a first end and a connector receptacle unit at a second end, and containing optical fibers of a fiber type different from the optical fibers in at least some of the other cable segments;
• securing the cable segments together end-to-end in the desired sequence by securing the connector plug unit at the first end of a first cable segment in the sequence to the connector receptacle unit at the second end of a second cable segment in the sequence, securing the connector plug unit at the first end of the second cable segment to a the connector receptacle unit at the second end of a third cable segment in the sequence, and repeating the procedure along the sequence until the desired hybrid span sequence is completed;
• and
• installing the hybrid span sequence on an ocean floor to extend over a distance equal to a plurality of kilometers so as to form at least part of a transoceanic cable system.