System, method, and apparatus for subsea optical to electrical distribution

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9832549-B2
Application number	US-201615069644-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2016
Priority date	Mar 14, 2016
Publication date	Nov 28, 2017
Grant date	Nov 28, 2017

Abstract

The present invention provides systems, methods, and apparatuses for subsea optical to electrical distribution. The present invention comprises one or more routing units adapted to convert optical signals to electrical signals and route the converted electrical signals to an appropriate end device. The routing unit is a compact device that may be installed without the use of heavy equipment.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A compact subsea Ethernet switching transmission system comprising:
at least one subsea optical or electro-optical cable having first and second ends;
a plurality of transmission cables;
a source device;
a plurality of end devices; and
at least one subsea electro-optical routing unit having a first end connected to the first end of the optical or electro-optical cable and a second end connected to one end of at least one of the plurality of transmission cables, the subsea electro-optical routing unit having a compact subsea housing containing an atmospheric chamber and an Ethernet switching or routing device mounted in the atmospheric chamber;

the Ethernet switching or routing device comprising:
at least one optical input/output junction;
a plurality of electrical input/output junctions;
an Ethernet switching controller;
a configuration micro-controller for configuring the Ethernet switching controller; and
a multi-directional electrical/optical converter module operatively disposed between the optical input/output junction and the Ethernet switching controller, the converter module configured to convert optical input signals received at the optical input/output junction into electrical output signals at the Ethernet switching controller, and to convert electrical input signals received from the Ethernet switching controller into optical output signals at the optical input/output junction;
one or more signal-carrying optical fibers extending from the first end of the optical or electro-optical cable into the atmospheric chamber of the first end of the optical or electro-optical routing unit and connected to the first junction of the multi-directional electrical/optical converter module, the optical or electro-optical cable releaseably connected to the subsea electro-optical routing unit; and
a plurality of electrical signal wires extending from the second junction and communicating with corresponding transmission electrical signal wires in the plurality of transmission cables via the Ethernet switching controller, the plurality of transmission cables releaseably connected to the subsea electro-optical routing unit.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the source device is an umbilical termination and the plurality of end devices comprise at least one well tree.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein monitoring of the transmission system and of the source device and the plurality of end devices is performed by a set of surface based equipment.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the housing is selected from the group consisting of a flying lead housing and a modular connectorized distribution unit housing.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the housing further comprises an oil filled chamber separated from the atmospheric chamber by a set of penetrators.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the subsea electro-optical routing unit is disposed between and is in operative electrical communication with the at least one subsea optical or electro-optical cable and the plurality of transmission cables.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the second end of the optical or electro-optical cable is releaseably connected to the source device, and wherein each of the plurality of transmission cables are releaseably and operatively connected an end device from the plurality of end devices.

8. A compact subsea Ethernet switching transmission apparatus comprising:
at least one subsea optical or electro-optical cable having first and second ends;
a plurality of transmission cables; and
at least one subsea electro-optical routing unit having a first end connected to the first end of the optical or electro-optical cable and a second end connected to one end of at least one of the plurality of transmission cables, the subsea electro-optical routing unit having a compact subsea housing containing an atmospheric chamber and an Ethernet switching or routing device mounted in the atmospheric chamber;

the Ethernet switching or routing device comprising:
at least one optical input/output junction;
a plurality of electrical input/output junctions;
an Ethernet switching controller;
a configuration micro-controller for configuring the Ethernet switching controller; and
a multi-directional electrical/optical converter module operatively disposed between the optical input/output junction and the Ethernet switching controller, the converter module configured to convert optical input signals received at the optical input/output junction into electrical output signals at the Ethernet switching controller, and to convert electrical input signals received from the Ethernet switching controller into optical output signals at the optical input/output junction;
one or more signal-carrying optical fibers extending from the first end of the optical or electro-optical cable into the atmospheric chamber of the first end of the subsea electro-optical routing unit and connected to the first junction of the multi-directional electrical/optical converter module, the optical or electro-optical cable releaseably connected to the subsea electro-optical routing unit; and
a plurality of electrical signal wires extending from the second junction and communicating with corresponding transmission electrical signal wires in the plurality of transmission cables, the plurality of transmission cables releaseably connected to the subsea electro-optical routing unit.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further adapted to connect to a source device and a plurality of end devices.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the source device is an umbilical termination and the plurality of end devices comprise at least one well tree.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the apparatus is adapted to monitor a subsea Ethernet transmission system, the source device, and the plurality of end devices.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein monitoring of the transmission system, the source device, and the plurality of end devices is performed by a set of surface based equipment.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the housing is selected from the group consisting of a flying lead housing and a modular connectorized distribution unit housing.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the housing further comprises an oil filled chamber separated from the atmospheric chamber by a set of penetrators.

15. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the subsea electro-optical routing unit is disposed between and is in operative electrical communication with the at least one subsea optical or electro-optical cable and the plurality of transmission cables.

16. A method for subsea electro-optical Ethernet transmission between a source device and a plurality of end devices, the method comprising:
releaseably connecting a first end of an optical or electro-optical cable to the source device;
releaseably connecting a second end of the optical or electro-optical cable to an optical or electro-optical input/output port on a subsea electro-optical routing unit;
releaseably connecting a first end of an electrical Ethernet cable to one of a plurality of electrical Ethernet input/output ports on the subsea electro-optical routing unit;
releaseably connecting a second end of the electrical Ethernet cable to an end device;
configuring an Ethernet switching controller disposed in the electro-optical routing unit by a configuration micro-controller;
communicating a first optical signal from the source device to the optical input/output port of the electro-optical routing unit;
converting, by an electrical/optical converter module, the first optical signal into

Assignees

• Teledyne Instruments Inc

Inventors

• Greene Michael
• Xi Huijiang

Classifications

• H04Q11/0003 Primary

  Details · CPC title

• H04L49/351

  for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches · CPC title

• H04B10/2504

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L12/4625 Primary

  Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge · CPC title

• G02B6/4427

  Pressure resistant cables, e.g. undersea cables · CPC title