PIPE Networks

Submarine Cable 101

Stephen Baxter, CTO and Co-Founder PIPE Networks Limited

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About PIPE Networks

ASX Listed company (ASX:PWK)

Profitable Company on all measure of EBIT, EBITDA, cash flow etc

Internet Peering point operator in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide. Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra

3rd largest operator of metro fibre services in Australia

Co-location provider

Currently undertaking PPC – Sydney to Guam Submarine Cable

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Why should we care about Submarine cables

High Capacity Lifeline

New cables built for data (built for us)

You are the customers – not the monopolists victim

Informed choice for valuable section of supply chain

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What do you see as a customer of a Submarine Network

Older cables – E1, DS-3, STM-1, STM-4, STM-16

Newer cables – Optically muxed Gig-E, 2.5G Wavelength, 10G Wavelength

Typical choices for dry side cards are :

•STM-64: XFP transceiver•4xSTM-16•8x1GbE•10 GbE WAN PHY (9.95328Gb/s)•10 GbE LAN PHY (10.3125Gb/s)

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Before it all starts

The route

Factors effecting the route

Market, topography, commercial activity, seismic activity, man made obstacles

Permits

Territorial Limits, Continental Shelves, Exclusive Economic Zones, disputed waters

Manufacture

Fully built before being laid, pressure tested.

Room on the ship – how much cable can you carry

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The Cable

Reasonably boring long haul fibre optic

Secret sauce is the outer layer and the route

Rock Armoured, Double Armoured, Single armoured, Light weight armour, special application and lightweight

Type dependant on bottom conditions, artificial risks and depth

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Cable Station

Interface between wet and dry plant

You need two of them

Do not have to be huge – adequate is good

Beware somebody else’s cable station

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Driving the cable

Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment

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Driving the cable

Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment

10 Gig system using DWDM – multiple 10G wavelength on a single pair

Frequency

Power

CWDM Spectrum for 2.5G DWDM Spectrum

for 10G services

1 x 2.5G

16 x 10G

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Driving the cable

Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment

Voltage – Power Feed Equipment (PFE) - DC and lots of it

10,000V DC not uncommon

Dual fed

CLS has power backup

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Driving the cable

Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment

Voltage – Power Feed Equipment (PFE) - DC and lots of it

Splitters – Optically passive equipment that splits all or a portion of spectrum onto different physical paths – also called Branching Unit (BU).

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Branching Unit

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Driving the cable

Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment

Voltage – Power Feed Equipment (PFE) - DC and lots of it

Splitters – Optically passive equipment that splits all or a portion of spectrum onto different physical paths – also called Branching Unit (BU).

Amplifiers/Repeaters – every 80km, dependant on OSNR and BU placement

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Fibre Amplifier/Repeater

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Driving the cable

Lasers – Submarine Line Terminal Equipment

Voltage – Power Feed Equipment (PFE) - DC and lots of it

Splitters – Optically passive equipment that splits all or a portion of spectrum onto different physical paths – also called Branching Unit (BU).

Amplifiers/Repeaters – every 80km, dependant on OSNR and BU placement

Monitoring – in line OTDR working through EDFA

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Getting wet

Beach manhole transition into the surf, very well earthed

Conduit bored 900m out from mean low water mark

30m deep on land, 15m mean depth enroute to 900m

Diver assisted with rotary wing support

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Giving Way

Cable routes close to shore are usually a crowded space

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Giving Way

Cable routes close to shore are usually a crowded space

You need to build bridges

Recovery order to ensure no damage to underlying system

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Keep under cover

Deeper is better

2000m or shallower – cable is buried

Depth between 1 and 8 metres

Going the long way – considerations include Geologic, Seismic, Topographical and many others

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Keep under coverCable burial

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Know where you lie

Positioning and Survey

You may need to recover for repair or re-use

GPS accuracy between 2 and 5m

Don’t be left suspended

Up to 20km of cable can be suspended during deployment operations

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Ocean

Mean sea level

Trench/Valley

Ocean laid

Terrestrial

Suspended fibre cableSub Sea Burial

Know where you lieDon’t be left suspended

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Predators of the deep

Sharks – mostly urban myth but the shark has always been a good scapegoat

Squids – not caches

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Predators of the shallows

Legitimate commercial activity

Fishing, mining, shipping, military

Not so legitimate commercial activityLocal entrepreneurs – protection racquets – in some parts of the world quite legal or at least tolerated

Submarine Protection zones

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Predators of the shallows

Legitimate commercial activity

Fishing, mining, shipping, military

Not so legitimate commercial activityLocal entrepreneurs – protection racquets – in some parts of the world quite legal or at least tolerated

Submarine Protection zones

Lawyers and International taxation specialists !

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Maintenance and repair

Cable ship agreements - clubs

Cable faults usually singular affairs, not always breaks

Grapple the cable, double the ships does not halve the time

If too deep – cable needs to re-laid as recovery impossible

Overall – far higher MTBF than terrestrial cables

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Conclusion

More of us will purchase submarine capacity

Become an empowered consumer of these services

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Thanks – Steve Baxter

steve@pipenetworks.com