Industrial Electronics

Reflectometer locates faults in submarine cables

18 August 2023

Anritsu Company has launched the coherent optical time domain reflectometer (ODTR) MW90010B to locate faults in submarine cables. The system can evaluate up to 20,000 km and has an easily selectable wavelength that covers the full C-band. It is more portable with a 40% weight reduction for the same product size as the previous model.

The volume of communications traffic is increasing due to the spread of 5G mobile and cloud services. In addition, the worldwide submarine cable network carries most data communications and is expected to expand with future technological innovations. The MW90010B provides the accuracy, repeatability andSource: Annitsu CompanySource: Annitsu Company portability necessary to ensure the performance of submarine cables used by hyperscale data centers requiring high speed and low latency.

The coherent OTDR MW90010B uses the coherent (optical heterodyne) detection method, which is ideal for measuring the characteristics of optical fibers in submarine cables with optical repeater amplifiers. It supports fault detection up to 12,000 km with repeaters installed at 80 km or wider intervals. Detection distance is extended to up to 20,000 km with the MW90010B-003 option.

Precise measurements can be made with the MW90010B, as it has a built-in tunable light source with ±0.05 nm wavelength accuracy. A wide wavelength range of 1527.60 nm to 1567.13 nm allows the MW90010B to cover the entire C-band. Wavelengths can be selected in 50 GHz steps to facilitate measurement of all cable lines from each landing station and help assure the quality of submarine cables.

To contact the author of this article, email GlobalSpecEditors@globalspec.com


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