State-of-the-art implementation provides 24×7 monitoring of both shore-ends as well as the terrestrial network connecting the two landing stations – providing total ‘always on’ cover.
Deep-tech fibre sensing company FiberSense and subsea cable provider Southern Cross Cable Network (SX) have implemented FiberSense’s world DigitalMarine subsea cable monitoring capability across SX’s New Zealand shore-end infrastructure.
The state-of-the-art implementation provides 24×7 monitoring of both shore-ends (from cable landing station to first repeater) as well as the terrestrial network connecting the two landing stations, providing total “always on” cover.
“We are extremely pleased to collaborate with FiberSense and integrate the distributed fibre sensing service into a live traffic carrying fibre via the proprietary FiberSense Marine Interface Unit where sensing occurs outside the frequencies used for data traffic wavelengths. The integration was executed seamlessly and our network is seeing the benefit of the real time asset protection capability against potential external threats,” said Dean Veverka, Director Networks & VP Operations, Southern Cross Cable Network.
Operation of the sensing service via the Marine Interface Unit means that cable operators no longer need to reserve an unused or dark fibre core exclusively for monitoring. FiberSense has developed a proprietary coupling methodology to ensure that the sensing signal does not interfere with the operation of the communications traffic including fault states.
Mark Englund, Founder and CEO, FiberSense said: “Subsea networks are an increasingly vital part of the modern digital and AI era. We continue to be very grateful for the partnership we have with the exceptional team at SX as we continue to innovate and push the boundaries of what is possible in improved awareness and resilience for submarine cable systems. In partnership with SX, we now have delivered a series of world firsts in subsea networks. We are looking forward to further innovations in subsea that balance increased resilience and situational awareness with industry leading fail-safe architectures.”
The integration of the FiberSense DigitalMarine service in New Zealand is the first stage of the SX rollout plan of the new technology.
By the end of Q3 the new generation technology will be installed on all critical terrestrial links and out to first repeaters of the SX network in Australia, New Zealand and the United States West Coast.
With the improved algorithms and techniques to detect seabed interaction events (such as anchoring and fishing), greater accuracy in detecting cable exposures along with better integration with AIS for vessel identification, the SX Network will benefit from class leading levels of protection monitoring assisting in threat detection, prevention and rectification times.
