Patent ID: 6934442
Filing Date: 2005-08-23
Classification: G02B,H04B,H04J

Abstract:
1. A branching unit for interconnecting at least three undersea optical transmission cables, said branching unit comprising: first, second and third ports for receiving first, second and third undersea optical transmission cables, respectively, said first and second cables each including an electrical power conductor and a plurality of first optical fibers, said third cable being electrically unpowered and including at least one drop optical fiber and at least one add optical fiber; an electrical power conductor segment for electrically coupling the conductor in the first cable received in the first port to the conductor in the second cable received in the second port; a first optical fiber segment optically coupling a first of the plurality of first optical fibers in one of the first or second cables to the drop optical fiber of the third cable; a second optical fiber segment optically coupling a second of the plurality of first optical fibers in one of the first and second cables to the add optical fiber of the third cable; first and second optical amplifiers located along the first and second optical fiber segments, respectively so that the first optical amplifier provides optical gain to traffic being dropped on the drop optical fiber of the third cable and the second optical amplifier provides optical gain to traffic being added on the add optical fiber of the third cable; and at least one electrically conductive path for supplying electrical energy from at least one of the electrical power conductors to each of the optical amplifiers.