The Martyr's Prize

The South East Asia-Middle East-West Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) submarine optical telecommunications cable is one of at least four that traverse the Mediterranean Sea. SEA-ME-WE 4, completed in late 2005, is considered in telecommunications terminology to be a fiberoptic backbone, and is for all practical purposes a six-inch thick Terabit-capable underwater cable containing hundreds of individual fiberoptic filaments. Running in four main segments, SEA-ME-WE 4 travels from Tuas, Singapore, to Mumbai, India to Suez, Egypt, where it travels overland, parallel to the Suez Canal, to Cairo. From there, it again travels underwater to Alexandria, Egypt, and on to its western terminus at Marseille, France. These segments comprise the backbone, and at each juncture there are DWDM 980nm and 1480nm pumped Erbium doped fiberoptical amplifiers (EDFA’s) which literally “pump” proton based optical signals into the fiberoptic cable. It might seem odd to pump light, but that’s exactly what the EDFA’s do, and the result is near instantaneous land-based signal transmission across staggering distances. However, such technology does not come without challenges, and early research into the viability of fiberoptic telecommunications presented the engineers with a major one. Specifically, when optical signals were sent across transoceanic distances, a problem known as gain-undulation arose. Gain-undulation occurs when the light signals begin to form waves inside the optical filament. If the wave continues unabated the signals themselves degrade to a point where they cannot be reassembled on the far end. This, combined with the fact that the cables would have to be produced in finite lengths, called for a method of splicing and repairing them—thus leading to the development of three critical underwater components of the system. The first were submarine repeaters like the NEC R320S. These would take the optical signal as delivered and using power provided from the metallic components of the cable, amplify and repeat it, reassembling it to its original clarity using solid-state lasers projecting the signal into the next segment of cable. A second component was the Block Equalizer. Used as a less expensive substitute if amplification was not required, the Q320S block equalizer would perform only the job of correcting gain undulation. Finally, there were the B320S Branching units, which allow secondary cables to tap onto the backbone. These resembled the R320S style repeaters, and generally performed like them, except that the signals were propagated in pairs, with one signal continuing along the backbone while the other could be sent along a branch cable. The submarine optical repeaters sitting on the wooden cradles in the work bay of Tiberius would have immediately called to mind high-end home stereo patch cord connectors, only about a hundred times bigger, and each were cylinders approximately three-feet long and ten-inches in diameter. When new from the NEC factory, they’d have been bright gold with a blue stripe on one end and red one on the other. These however, had been “weathered” purposely with various acids and salts to achieve the appearance of being in the ocean for a long period of time. While a collection of five repeaters were singular R320S units, four others were connected in sets by 100’ lengths of undersea fiberoptic cable. Where the cable left the repeater, a rubber boot resembling the CV boot of a front-wheel-drive car axle extended about four feet onto it. When adhered to the cable with specially designed adhesives and clamps, the boots would provide a waterproof seal against the corrosive ocean water. In addition to their weathered appearance, these repeaters had one other aspect that separated them from stock NEC products. Absolutely nothing within the sealed shells even remotely resembled the factory equipment.