Submarine Communication Cable

Saman · Post by **Saman** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 3:24 am

Here you will learn about submarine communication cable, amplifiers, repeaters, fibre optics ,telecommunication network and fibre optic cable companies. Submarine communication cables are the fibre optical cables and are used for the cross Atlantic communications. Submarine cables are consisting of fibre optics and electrical conductive tube that is used to transfer the electrical signals between the repeaters. Repeaters are the network communication and telecommunication devices that are used to amplify the signals.

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Polyethylene
"Mylar" tape
Stranded metal (steel) wires
Aluminium water barrier
Polycarbonate
Copper or aluminium tube
Petroleum jelly
Optical fibres

Repeaters operate at the physical layer of the OSI layers model and work with the physical signals. Submarine fibre optical cables are less susceptible to failure and are very high transmission cables. Submarine fibre optical cables are usually laid 1m under the sea. A great research and planning is required to install the submarine fibre optic cables. Fibre optic cable is a light weight cable, 13 cm in diameter and consists of a bunch of glass fibres that are cable of transmitting the light. So the data is transferred at the speed of light through the fibre optic cables. Normally the submarine cables are not installed on the area where the fishing and ship activities are more.

Because ship anchor and shipping vessels can be the problem for the submarine cables. Submarine telecommunication cable is a cable that is used for the telecommunication between the countries across the world. With the passage of time, the submarine cables have advancements and new technologies and communication devices are being used in the telecommunication. Submarine telecommunication cables with the high amplifier can transmit data and signals at more than 5 GB per seconds. Submarine cables were first used for the telegraphic transmission between the countries, then for telephone and then for data communication.

Today, fibre optic submarine cable is the backbone of the whole internet. In case of any damage to the submarine cables the whole communication system can be greatly affected. The international cable protection committee was established in 1958 in London to protect the submarine cables.

This committee is funded by the member fibre optic cable operators and the main responsibilities of this committee to protect the submarine communication cable. Earlier telecommunication submarine cables were not using repeaters so there were great bandwidth problems. In 1980 fibre optical was developed it uses the optical amplifiers to transmit the signals at a very high speed. Submarine power cables are running for supplying the electrical power. Fishing, anchoring and shark fish bites can cause the damage to the cables and the damaged portion of the cable is brought to the surface for repairing purposes. The installation and the repairing cost of the submarine cables is very high. These cables are laid in the seabed by the cable lying ships. These ships are owned and operated by the wireless and big telecommunication companies around the world. The optical fibres in the fibre optic are used as a sensor to measure heat, pressure and temperature.

Fibres are made up of transparent plastic and glass to pass the light at a very high speed. Earthquakes are also the cause of the damage for the communication cables and a major Tsunami earthquake in December 2004, in the Indian Ocean caused big damages to the underlying telecommunication cables. Telecommunication cables have a large network across the world. Some of the major submarine cable companies of the world are Apollo, Pan American Crossing, Pacific Rim East, Japan-US, Columbus II, Columbus III, RJK, Eastern Caribbean fibre system and many other companies.