SUBMARINE

R5 BRANCHING UNIT
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

R5 Branching Unit Product Description Ed. 2

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 Contents
1 OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................... 4
2 SWITCHED POWER FUNCTIONALITY ............................................................................. 5
2.1 Power-Up Procedure...............................................................................................................6
2.2 Reconfiguration ......................................................................................................................6
2.3 Functional Block Diagram .......................................................................................................6
2.4 Electrical Parameters ..............................................................................................................7
2.5 Optical Power Switch Command Reception ..............................................................................7
3 OPTICAL FUNCTIONALITY ............................................................................................. 8
3.1 FULL FIBRE DROP (FFD) .........................................................................................................8
3.2 Optical by-pass switch function ...............................................................................................9
4 MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS .................................................................................. 9
4.1 Housing .................................................................................................................................9
4.2 Housing Seals ...................................................................................................................... 10
4.3 Corrosion Protection ............................................................................................................. 11
4.4 The Internal Unit .................................................................................................................. 11
4.5 High Voltage Insulation ........................................................................................................ 11
5 ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................................ 12
5.2 Sea Earth ............................................................................................................................ 13
5.3 Cable Tails ........................................................................................................................... 13
6 CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT ...................................................................................... 14
7 ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................... 14

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 Figures
Figure 1 - External BU connections A, B, C & D ............................................................................... 5
Figure 2 - Power latched states ...................................................................................................... 5
Figure 3 - Functional block diagram of the BU power circuit ............................................................. 7
Figure 4 - Examples of BU optical fibre routing for 8 fibre pair systems ............................................. 8
Figure 5 - Optical by-pass switch function (only one direction described) .......................................... 9
Figure 6 - Housing unit external view (armoured cable version) ..................................................... 10
Figure 7 - Sea-case corrosion protection system ............................................................................ 11

Tables

Table 1 - Summary of electrical parameters of the power switched BU ............................................. 7

Table 2 - Optical parameters of the Full fibre drop (FFD) BU ............................................................ 8
Table 3 - Housing BU mechanical characteristics ........................................................................... 10
Table 4 - R5 BU environmental specification .................................................................................. 12
Table 5 - BU shock and vibration specification & qualification ......................................................... 12
Table 6 - BU safety specification ................................................................................................... 13

R5 Branching Unit Product Description Ed. 2

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1 OVERVIEW
This document describes the Alcatel-Lucent R5 Branching Unit (BU) available for use in WDM optical
telecommunication systems.
Branching Units (BU) are used as optical and electrical nodes in submerged optical telecommunication
systems, fulfilling requirements for multiple landing points or branch-to-branch configurations.
R5 BUs are modular in construction enabling the connection of three cables of eight fibre pairs and
providing full fibre drop (FFD) optical routing capability from/to the branch.
The R5 Branching Unit has the capability to perform “hot switching”. It is therefore not necessary to
de-power the segment or to modify the system powering conditions to change the BU electrical
configuration. This facilitates switching of the BU if case of cable faults on any leg. The states of the
BU are latched, and therefore, unaffected by system powering changes.
R5 BUs can be associated with fixed Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer (OADM), and Reconfigurable OADM
(ROADM) units to provide flexible optical node functionalities.
The design permits termination of all types of Alcatel-Lucent repeatered submarine optical cable.
Cable extremity boxes terminate different cable types.

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2 SWITCHED POWER FUNCTIONALITY
The switched power R5 BU is fully symmetrical. Any two legs A, B and C can be connected together
(powering trunk) and be isolated from the third leg, the spur, which is connected to the local sea
earth (D). Powering is possible in either polarity.

Figure 1 - External BU connections A, B, C & D

A B

The BU is permanently latched in one of the four states (Trunk A-B, A-C, B-C or A-B-C to earth), as
shown in Figure 2. It will maintain its power configuration as long as no optical command is received
to leave that state. The configuration is held when the BU is powered or unpowered, or during current
and voltage variations.

Figure 2 - Power latched states

A B A B

D D

C C
A B
Transitory state
D
C

A B A B

D D
C C
There are 4 power states, all latched, and any one can be accessed from either of the other three in a
single step. A reconfiguration (arrow) passes through a transitory all-legs earthed state (shown in the
centre of the diagram), which is transparent to the operator.

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Thanks to redundant internal power sources, the reconfiguration of R5 branching unit can be achieved
in a faulted or partially un-powered network.
The switched states of the BU are latched providing a robust electrical configuration of the system.
Thus, it is not necessary to de-power the whole system during a repair (hot repair) assuming that the
cable section under repair is connected to the BU Sea Earth and unpowered.

2.1 Power-Up Procedure

Starting from a system condition where all three cables to a BU are un-powered, the System and BU
power configurations are determined by the previous state of the BU.
The order of power-up on the Spur and Trunk paths is unimportant.

2.2 Reconfiguration

The supervisory system is used to change the state of the relays on the BU, therefore each BU in a
system will have its own unique supervisory address which makes it certain which BU is being
commanded.
On receipt of a command from the supervisory optical command, the BU will first discharge the cable
to a safe level and then configure the power circuit as required.
BU onboard circuits decide whether a reconfiguration should be carried out or not.
Confirmation of successful switching is made by adjusting one PFE and observing changes on the
other PFE on the newly connected trunk.

2.3 Functional Block Diagram

The functional block diagram is represented in Figure 3.

The power configuration of the BU is determined by the settings of the configuration relays. Control of
these relays is performed via the optical receivers and the relay driver electronics. Power to the relay
drivers and logic is provided via rectifier bridges, to enable powering by system voltages of either
polarity.
The relay driver electronics are powered either by the trunk or spur current to be able to achieve a
change of configuration in any situation. The supervisory switching command is tapped off by optical
couplers within the BU and received by photodiodes connected to the driver circuits. The driver
circuits decode and process the commands. Then the driver logic will initiate the relay switching
command required for the BU to attain its new state.

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Figure 3 - Functional block diagram of the BU power circuit

Discharge Unit

A B

D POWERING C
CONFIGURATION
UNIT

Power Supply
Trunk Optical
Relay Drivers
Supervisory
Circuit
Power Supply Receivers
Branch CONTROL UNIT

POWER SUPPLY UNIT

2.4 Electrical Parameters

The electrical characteristics of the switched power BU are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1 - Summary of electrical parameters of the power switched BU

PARAMETER UNIT MIN MAX

Working voltage kV -15 +15

BU voltage drop / A-B, A-C & B-C electrical paths V 52
Line Current A 0.7 2.0
Resistance to sea Earth W 2
Capacitance, internal unit to ground nF 2
9
Resistance, Trunk to Spur W 10
Electrical attenuation at 50Hz dB 0.5

2.5 Optical Power Switch Command Reception

A reconfiguration optical supervisory command can arrive at the BU from each of the three legs.

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3 OPTICAL FUNCTIONALITY
While any pair of BU legs A, B & C can be configured at any time to carry a trunk current (BU state
reconfiguration), the optical fibre routes are preconfigured during BU manufacture and System
assembly and are fixed relative to A, B & C for the life of the System.

3.1 FULL FIBRE DROP (FFD)

The R5 BU is optically passive and is able to route fibre pairs between any pair of legs, according to
contract requirements. Figure 4 is an outline diagram showing generalized fibre routing in the BU. The
BU can handle up to 8 fibre pairs on each leg.

Figure 4 - Examples of BU optical fibre routing for 8 fibre pair systems

A B A B A B

C C C

Fully symmetric 6 pass-through + 2 dropped 4 pass-through + 4 dropped

4 pass-through + 4 dropped fibre pairs fibre pairs
fibre pairs

The submerged repeaters determine the BU transmission bandwidth in the cable system. The BU will
pass WDM signals at any channel spacing that can be set by the SLTE in the Terminal Stations.
The optical parameters are shown in the table below:

Table 2 - Optical parameters of the Full fibre drop (FFD) BU

PARAMETER (any optical path) UNIT MIN MAX

Optical loss at 1550nm dB 2
Wavelength range nm 1530 1570
Polarisation dependent loss dB 0.2
Polarisation mode dispersion ps 0.5
Maximum optical input power dBm +18

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 3.2 Optical by-pass switch function

As option, the R5 Branching Unit can accommodate optical by-pass switches on FFD fibre pairs. This
optical by-pass function is ensured by a non-latched switch.
This optical by-pass function can typically be implemented on fibre-pairs equipped with OADM
functionalities.
As depicted in Figure 5, the by-pass function is automatically activated when the branch is unpowered
(branch cable fault) providing a straight trunk traffic routing through the BU (A-B / B-A paths).
Optical by-pass switches can be implemented on up to 4 trunk fibre-pairs. It is not possible to
remotely control the switch configuration.

Figure 5 - Optical by-pass switch function (only one direction described)

A B A B

Optional Optional
OADM functions OADM functions
Unpowered
Powered
branch
branch

C C

4 MECHANICAL CHARACTERISTICS

4.1 Housing

An external view of the R5 BU is shown in Figure 6. The housing comprises a monobloc sea-case of
high tensile steel, a three cable entry system and provision to connect a Sea Earth. Each cable
termination is a standard design with flexible coupling between cable transition and housing. At one
end of the unit a special parallel entry ‘Y’ branch piece provides attachment for two of the
terminations. The third cable termination is at the opposite end of the BU; the Sea Earth is also
attached at that end.
Optical fibre splices and power feed connections between cables and the BU are located in extremity
boxes, which are attached externally to each end of the BU housing. The BU fibres are color coded.
The housing and termination are designed to function continuously without maintenance for a
minimum system life of 25 years and support laying, recovery and re-laying of the BUs. The housing
is qualified for use at depths of up to 8000 m. However, maximum deployment depth is determined
by recovery issues, which are more severe for BUs than for repeaters due to the weight of the
additional cable which must be raised with a BU. The maximum recovery depth of the BU depends on
the cable types connected.

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The joint housing can terminate all lightweight and armoured cable designs with load transfer to the
BU housing through the flexible coupling.

Figure 6 - Housing unit external view (armoured cable version)

Armadillo

Branch case

Monobloc seacase
 296mm

Armadillo

Extremity box

Table 3 - Housing BU mechanical characteristics

PARAMETER UNIT VALUE

Straight tensile strength with armoured cable termination kN 600 kN
1
RTS tensile strength with armoured cable termination kN 200 kN
Sea case monobloc length mm 1511
Sea case monobloc and branch case overall length mm 1702
Outside sea case diameter, including coating mm 296
Mass (Armoured cable coupling) kg <750
Armoured Termination weight kg 24
Thermal Resistance (power module to the sea) °C/W 0.1
Note 1: Qualification RTS (Round the Sheave) test performed on a 3m sheave.

4.2 Housing Seals

Full protection to the internal unit against water and gas ingress, both directly from the surrounding
sea and from axial cable leakage due to a cable break close to the unit, is provided by the bulkhead
and composite gland assembly which acts as the housing sealing system.
Additionally, lead gaskets are used to provide a hermetic gas seal at both the bulkhead and gland.

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 4.3 Corrosion Protection

Figure 7 shows the corrosion protection system used on BU housings, which is an organic electrically
insulating barrier coating with additional mechanical reinforcement. This system, which has been
selected after extensive trials, prevents seawater contact with the steel surface of the BU housing
thereby eliminating metal wastage and hydrogen generation through galvanic corrosion and magneto-
hydrodynamic effects.

Figure 7 - Sea-case corrosion protection system

Polyurethane Paint

Fusion-Bonded Epoxy

Polyethylene

Fusion-Bonded Epoxy

Steel Sea Case

4.4 The Internal Unit

The R5 BU internal unit consists of a cylindrical construction containing different assemblies. These
assemblies hold the components associated with the required BU electro-optic functionality.
They are piled up as a single unit, and fixed inside the housing by means of a radial and axial fixing
mechanism, to ensure product integrity in case of shock.
This internal unit is machined to allow the safe routing of fibres and wires from bulkhead to bulkhead.
It is locally in contact with the housing to ensure good thermal conductivity where required and allow
heat to be transferred to the surrounding sea water.
High voltage insulation is maintained between the internal unit and the equipment housing by a
polyethylene liner.
The reliability of components in the BU also requires a controlled ambient internal atmosphere. Over
25 years the atmosphere is controlled to less than 20% relative humidity over the operating
temperature range by the use hydrogen getters and moisture absorbing desiccants.

4.5 High Voltage Insulation

High voltage insulation is maintained between the internal unit and the BU housing by a polyethylene
liner. Statistical tests used to predict long-term characteristics demonstrate that the insulation is
capable of withstanding 40 kV stress for 25 years.

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 High voltage insulation is maintained between the internal unit and the housing by two insulation
paths:
 On one hand, a polyethylene liner between the internal unit and the housing. Life test
results demonstrate a continuous high voltage insulation rating greater than 50 kV.
 On the other hand, the power conductor feeding through the composite gland assembly
in the bulkhead, which is rated at 36 kV.
The R5 Branching Unit is qualified so that it can be used in systems operating at up to 15kV
continuous rating.

5 ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIFICATIONS
5.1.1 Environmental specification

Table 4 - R5 BU environmental specification

PARAMETER UNIT MIN MAX

Operating temperature range, Sea Case °C -2 35
Storage temperature range °C -20 50
Internal unit ambient relative humidity % 20
Depth (not taking into account recovery limitations) m 8000
Design Life years 25

5.1.2 Transport Handling and laying

Table 5 - BU shock and vibration specification & qualification

BUMP/SHOCK VIBRATION
Severity Duration Number Freq. Range Severity Duration
ACTIVITY
(g) (ms) (Hz) (g) (minutes)
(1)
Transport Appears as LF vibrations 1 to 50 < 0.5 Random
Shipboard handling (2)
< 25 1 to 10 Random 1 to 12 < 0.1 Continuous
and laying (1)

Qualification testing BS EN 60068-2-29:1993 BS EN 60068-2-6:1996

performed IEC 60068-2-29 (1987-03) IEC 60068-2-6 (1995-03)
(4) (3)
Housed units 40 6 1002 10 to 150 1 90

Notes:
1. Maximum levels recorded during transportation, shipboard handling, laying and recovery.
2. Published data reference DEF STAN 00-35(PART 5)/3:2000.
3. Comprised of 30 minutes in 3 directions.
4. Comprised of 167 bumps in 6 directions.

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5.1.3 Safety specification

Table 6 - BU safety specification

There are no optical sources in the BU. For optical levels that may be present when testing or
Optical
in service refer to the data for the connected equipment.

Electrical connections are not exposed during normal operation. Equipment conforms to the
Electrical standards IEC 60950-1 (2006) & BS EN 60950:2006 ‘Safety of Information Technology
Equipment’. Test voltages are below 50v DC.

5.2 Sea Earth

A remote electrode positioned approximately 5 m from the BU on the single cable end (main branch)
provides the return current path for the BU. The electrode is designed to provide the path of least
resistance to sea and ensure that any resulting Hydrogen generation through electrolysis is localized
at a safe distance from the main unit. The design also limits Hydrogen penetration into the extremity
box and the underlying cable. This Sea Earth arrangement can be used for either shallow or deep
water applications.
The breaking load of the cable tail on which the sea-earth is fitted is at least equal to 80% of the
breaking load of the cable.

5.3 Cable Tails

Cable tails are specifically chosen to suit particular BU installation conditions and more particularly the
installation depth.
Tails are of the same type of construction as the line cable. Fibres are housed in a jelly-filled steel
tube surrounded by two layers of steel wires that form a protective vault against pressure and
external aggressions, and provide tensile strength. This vault is then enclosed in a hermetically sealed
copper tube and insulated with a layer of polyethylene, further reinforced, e.g. with armour layers, as
installation conditions require.
The main branch tail (single cable end) is a high tensile strength SA cable type and is equipped with
the Sea Earth assembly. The length of the SA protection is usually limited to typically 80 m, then a
joint is made to the line cable or, when required, e.g. for deep sea installation, to high tensile
strength cable with a length sufficient to correspond to typically 2-3 times the water depth.
Secondary legs in standard configurations are equipped with tails of the same type as that on the
main branch.

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6 CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT
Alcatel-Lucent follows a policy of continuous development principles, which may result in desirable
enhancements being available. In those circumstances, Alcatel-Lucent reserves the right to modify
their product to make use of such enhancements wherever feasible.

7 ACRONYMS
BU Branching Unit
BS British Standards
EN European Norm
FFD Full Fibre Drop
IEC International Electrotechnic Commission
OADM Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer
PFE Power Feed Equipment
ROADM Reconfigurable Optical Add Drop Multiplexer
RTS Round the Sheave
SA Single Armoured
SLTE Submerged Line Terminal Equipment
SQD Standard Quotation Document
WDM Wavelength Division Multiplexing

End of document

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