Nokia Subsea

Powerful optical transmission systems that deliver performance and new revenue

Taking light to the limit

Nokia subsea solutions utilize the industry’s strongest optical transmission technology, supporting record setting non-regenerated span lengths, maximum spectral efficiency and optimized equipment costs.

At the heart of Nokia’s subsea solution is the Photonic Service Engine (PSE): a digital processor for super-coherent optical transmission that optimizes capacity for each unique optical span, utilizing Probabilistic Constellation Shaping (PCS), advanced SD-FEC coding, Nyquist filtering and infinitely variable capacity. PCS is the only optical processing algorithm proven to approach the Shannon limit in a real-world optical fiber. The result is a capacity gain of between 25 and 68% and a 60% reduction in power required per transmitted bit.

Further, Nokia’s optical solutions include advanced wavelength routing capabilities, such as colorless, directionless, contentionless flex grid reconfigurable optical add-drop (CDC-F ROADM) to further simplify equipment, reduce physical footprint and cost while opening new deployment opportunities.

Subsea networks

Optimize performance across any optical span

25% capacity increase compared to advanced systems and up to a 68% increase compared to currently deployed systems

Unconstrained flexibility and programmability

Identical hardware supports any optical span and capacity requirement through software control.

Reduce physical space and power requirements

Reduces the need for regeneration, transponders and other equipment; saving space and conserving power.

Seamlessly integrate with terrestrial networks

Subsea line terminating equipment (SLTE) historically used WDM technology to maximize fiber utilization and also to perform wavelength translation at the landing station for hand-off to a terrestrial network. While effective, this approach meant use of costly optical transponders to in an optical-electrical-optical arrangement, using fiber patch cables to manually connect desired wavelength transponders to their target destinations. This solution is both costly and cumbersome, requiring advance planning, significant physical equipment space and manual cable connection during upgrades or failures.

Advances in optical technology, including tunable lasers, wavelength selectable switches and other components have allowed construction of a highly flexible, reconfigurable optical add-drop (ROADM) SLTE. These systems give the operator a solution that offers the flexibility to manage wavelengths between the terrestrial network and wet plant while also reducing initial equipment and sparing cost. Physical location of the ROADM SLTE can be located at the landing station or at a convenient in-land location such as the terrestrial POP.

Terrestrial network integration with Nokia 1830 PSS

Simple integration with terrestrial networks

Connect cleanly with terrestrial service provider networks using a single, ROADM-based SLTE

Improve reliability and uptime

Substantially reduce active equipment and points of failure, greatly improving FIT rate and uptime.

Reduce physical space, power needs and cost

Simpler, power efficient equipment offers a 70% reduction in space and an 80% cost reduction.

Operate Multiple SLTE on a single fiber

Subsea cable operators need to seek ways to amortize costs among multiple customers. Sharing cable infrastructure, especially line terminating equipment, can be problematic for some end customers with concerns about security, control and scalability. In other cases, cooperative arrangements encourage continued use of legacy SLTE with an adjunct capability for easy capacity upgrade.

These scenarios are easily accommodated through the use of a modular-design, capable of supporting multiple SLTE on a single fiber pair. Nokia’s 1830 PSS optical transport portfolio provides this modularity with advanced features such as PSE super coherent wavelength modulation, integrated ROADM components and subsea line loading capabilities. Together, these features make an economical, practical solution for terminating a discrete fiber pair on multiple SLTE terminals.

Multiple SLTE on a single fiber

Maximize fiber pair utilization

Easily support multiple customers on each fiber pair, better utilizing available spectrum and cost amortization.

Customer demarcation, control and security

Ensure each end-customer has their desired control and security through operation of their own SLTE.

Minimize physical space and power needs

Multiple SLTEs are formed through integrated components such as IROADM, minimizing space and power needs.

Restore services across multi-operator lines

Laid over the seabed and buried near-shore, subsea cables are vulnerable to damage from geological events such as earthquakes and undersea landslides as well as coastal human accidents. Yet cable networks are also hugely complex and expensive to construct and maintain, limiting an operator’s ability to construct multiple cables. For these reasons, contingency plans must be ready to deploy in the event of cable faults.

Operators that deploy ROADM-based SLTE at their landing stations or integrate them into the terrestrial network, open the possibility of providing fault protection contingency plans through traffic re-routing over the terrestrial network. Traffic impacted by a fault on one cable can be easily re-routed through spare capacity on another undersea cable, using the terrestrial network on either end. Fault contingencies can be pre-defined as an SLA between cable operators and provide mutual protection to each other.

Cable fault protection

Simple integration with terrestrial networks

Connect cleanly with terrestrial service provider networks using a single, ROADM-based SLTE

Encourage cooperation among customers

Fault contingency plans help each customer ensure network uptime at reasonable cost.

Wavelength routing automates restoration

Nokia SLTE and GMPLS restoration provides automated restoration across multiple subsea cables and terrestrial networks

Optimize cable spectrum utilization

On any subsea cable, existing spectrum is rarely completely used by live traffic or for protection reserve. Optimizing cable capacity utilization helps the operator amortize costs through realizing new revenue streams. Using software platforms that virtualize unused spectrum, the cable operator can effectively lease capacity to terrestrial service providers who, in turn, can then sub-lease standardized services such as MEF carrier Ethernet to other service providers or directly to enterprise end-customers.

Nokia WaveSuite software enables you to automate monetization of your subsea cable and optimize its performance. Based on open networking initiatives, WaveSuite applications enable you to easily establish service level agreements with network customers and allow customers to track their service performance with user portals. They provide focused, lightweight tools and success-based economics, all driven by a business optimized user experience.

Maximize revenue through Nokia WaveSuite