Fundamental Technologies and Devices

Application of Multi-Service Platform (MSP) for

Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE)
MIWA Daiki

Abstract
Following the expansion of IP networks led by a rapid increase in recent data traffic, the needs of SLTE (Submar-
ine Line Terminal Equipment) used in optical submarine cable systems are being diversified. In order to meet this
trend, NEC has developed the integrated optical terminal equipment based on MSP (Multi-Service Platform) and is
applying this solution to various systems. This paper introduces the features and achievements of the integrated
optical terminal equipment and its future development prospects together with trends in the market environment that
surrounds it.

Keywords
optical submarine cable system, DWDM, NPE, SONET/SDH, MSP, integrated optical terminal equipment

Terminal Equipment) based on the DWDM (Dense Wave-

1. Introduction
length Division Multiplexing) technology, and NPE (Net-
work Protection Equipment) with line protection and switch-
In general, the transmission equipment used for the optical ing functions ( Fig. 1 ).
submarine cable system is composed of SLTE (Submarine Line NPE employs the SONET/SDH (Synchronous Optical Net-
work/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) technology to realize the
line protection and switching functions. These functions are
contributing greatly to the improved availability and reliabili-
ty of optical submarine cable system. When a transmission line
is disconnected due to a failure in SLTE or a fiber, the line
switching function of NPE automatically switches the trans-
mission line to a prepared protection line. The SONET/SDH
technology makes it possible to execute such line switching in
the very short time of from 50 to 200 ms, thereby minimizing
the effects of traffic interruptions.
Following the rapid progress of IP networks in recent years,
the NPE products are required to have an increased affinity for
Ethernet interfaces. NEC names the advanced NPE products
Multi-Service Platform (MSP).
SLTE and NPE have previously been released as separate
products. At NEC, however, we have developed the integra-
ted optical terminal equipment by adding the DWDM func-
tion in SLTE to the MSP and have introduced it in a number of
optical submarine cable systems.
This paper introduces features of the integrated optical ter-
minal equipment together with achievements of the actual
Fig. 1 Example of applications of optical terminal equipment and introductions.
NPE.

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 Special Issue on Optical Submarine Cable System

2. Technical Trends of Optical Submarine Cable Systems

and Origin of Integrated Optical Terminal Equipment

While current submarine cable systems perform communi-

cations using the SONET/SDH technology, the expansion of
IP networks by the rapid increase in recent data traffic has
raised the need to optimize the optical submarine cable sys-
tems that support the backbone networks for and in conformi-
ty with packet transmission.
The NGN (Next Generation Network) also backs up the ex-
pansion of IP networks for the reason that it has become
imperative to develop ways to integrate the existing networks Fig. 2 Connection of SLTE and NPE.
into the packet based transport networks in order to realize a
reduction of OPEX, and provide a quick and flexible way to
introduce new applications and services. The optical submar-
ine cable systems are required to accommodate the needs.
On the other hand, the line switching function based on the
SONET/SDH technology that serves as the current main-
stream technology plays an important role in ensuring the
reliability of optical submarine cable systems. Considering the
absence of other technologies capable of offering an equiva-
lent switching time it is also essential to retain the SONET/
SDH technology.
It was based on a consideration of the above requirements
that the integrated optical terminal equipment was developed.
Fig. 3 Configuration of Integrated optical terminal equipment.

3. Outline and Features of Integrated Optical Terminal

non-repeatered systems as well as repeatered systems with
Equipment
submarine repeaters. Applications of the integrated optical ter-
minal equipment are not restricted by the network topology,
Previously, SLTE with the DWDM function and NPE were and it is applicable to any network configuration including ring
handled separately and the STM-64 interface was used for in- and mesh architectures.
terconnecting the equipment. The management system was The implementation of the integrated optical terminal equip-
also prepared separately for each equipment, and the opera- ment has made it possible to apply not only to packet trans-
tion and maintenance had to be undertaken separately ( Fig. 2 ). mission and to meet network administration requirements but
The integrated optical terminal equipment is based on the the CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) and OPEX (Operational
MSP for applying to packet transmission as well as maintain- Expenditure) are also reduced.
ing the line switching functions of the SONET/SDH technol- Notably, simplification of the connection between the
ogy. In order to reduce the maintenance and administration DWDM and MSP using colored interfaces has reduced the
costs the DWDM function in SLTE is integrated into the MSP overall system costs. In addition, simplification of the equip-
using special interfaces called colored interfaces. This config- ment configuration has drastically reduced the overall system
uration enables the integrated optical terminal equipment to be failure rate and improved system reliability. The improve-
monitored by a single management system ( Fig. 3 ). ment of the equipment power consumption and the floor space
Like the traditional optical terminal equipment, the integra- requirement has also enabled a further reduction of the OPEX.
ted optical terminal equipment can be applied to various 10- The advantages brought about by the integrated optical ter-
Gbps based optical submarine cable systems, including minal equipment are summarized as follows;

NEC TECHNICAL JOURNAL Vol.5 No.1/2010 ------- 39

 Fundamental Technologies and Devices
Application of Multi-Service Platform (MSP) for Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE)

● Application to packet transmission affinity with IP networks.

● Simplification of operation and maintenance It is also expected that the path control, line switching and
● Reduction of equipment costs routing functions using the MPLS-TP (Multiprotocol Label
● Improvement of system reliability due to a reduced Switch-Transport Profile) and GMPLS (Generalized Multi-
equipment failure rate protocol Label Switch) with a capability of integrating IP and
● Reduction of power consumption and floor space SONET/SDH (the so called legacy transmission technolo-
gies) will increase in importance in the future.
In order to increase the transmission distance and capacity,
4. Introduction of Integrated Optical Terminal Equipment
advancements in communication, modulation and error cor-
and Its Effects
rection methods based on the DWDM technology will also be
important.
The integrated optical terminal equipment has been ap-
plied to various optical submarine cable systems since 2005
6. Conclusion
and the number of countries that have taken delivery already
exceeds ten. It was applied not only to newly constructed op-
tical submarine cable systems but also to the capacity up- As discribed above and in order to meet recent market re-
grade of existing systems. The applications vary greatly and quirements, NEC has developed MSP-based integrated opti-
include repeatered and non-repeatered systems, P-to-P sys- cal terminal equipment and has applied it to optical submar-
tems connecting two landing points and ring systems. ine cable systems. As a result of equipment deliveries to more
The colored interfaces used in the integrated optical termi- than ten countries worldwide, its effects have been proven in
nal equipment employ two types of modulation scheme, us- various areas, including a contribution to a reduction of CA-
ing the NRZ type for short-distance systems and the RZ type PEX and OPEX. In the future, we will tackle the develop-
for long to middle-distance systems. ment of solutions for optical submarine cable systems that aim
According to past achievements, we have calculated that at responding to the new needs that are resulting from pro-
optical terminal equipment can reduce equipment costs by 10% gress in optical and IP networks.
to 20%. With regard to the system reliability, although al-
most no faults have occurred up to the present, our theoreti-
Author's Profile
cal calculation has shown that an improvement of about 30%
has been achieved. In addition, some systems have also suc- MIWA Daiki
Assistant Manager
ceeded in achieving a reduced power consumption of 40%. Submarine Network Division
As shown by the actual achievements described above, the Broadband Networks Operations Unit
NEC Corporation
integrated optical terminal equipment has brought about many
advantages and its future development is assured.

5. Future Perspectives of Integrated Optical Terminal

Equipment

Increases in large-capacity contents in the Internet and data

communications, construction of large-scale data centers, tran-
sition of networking to NGN and development of cloud com-
puting are expected to promote the transition to packet based
network and an increase in the capacity demand for interna-
tional data communication even further in the future.
As a result of these trends, the integrated optical terminal
equipment will also be required to increase its capacity to ac-
commodate the increased data traffic and to further improve its

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