
14
Technologies for global
telecommunications using
undersea cables
Se´bastien Bigo
Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs, Centre de Villarceaux, Route de
Villejust, Nozay, France
14.1 INTRODUCTION
The advent of optical technology in commercial undersea transmission systems
dates back to 1987, with the layout of TAT8 and TPC3 fiber cables across the
Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, respectively [1]. These optical systems
carried data at no more than 280 Mbit/s, over light at the wavelength of 1.3 mm.
Their successors, namely TAT9 and TPC4, reached the rate of 560 Mbit/s while
being operated at 1.55 mm, where fiber loss is lower. However, all these pioneer
systems ...