NEPTUNE Canada

Network overview

The NEPTUNE Canada network supports serial, Ethernet and optical protocols, enabling direct access to each individual instrument. Signals travel from each instrument to an OceanWorks junction box where they are transformed into Ethernet communications and sent via fibre optic cable to the adjacent Alcatel-Lucent node. At the node the Ethernet packets are packaged in a SONET protocol on a specific wavelength for transmission through optically amplified fibre back to the shore station in Port Alberni. At the shore station the SONET and wavelength division multiplexing layers are stripped away and the Ethernet packets are sent to the University of Victoria on a 10Gb/sec connection provided by Shaw Communications.

Network components

Backhaul

• A Shaw Communications 10 gigabit/second fibre optic ethernet connection from the Port Alberni shore station to the University of Victoria data centre

Shore station (Port Alberni)

Port Alberni shore station on a sunny day. ( Click to enlarge.)

Our shore station houses a suite of Alcatel-Lucent equipment:

• Router
• Data switches
• SONET transponders
• Wavelength-division multiplexing systems (for multiplexing multiple optical signals on a single optical fiber, each using a different wavelengths or colours of laser light)
• 10kV power feed

Subsea backbone

Samples of network cables used by NEPTUNE Canada.

• Alcatel-Lucent's submarine telecommunications cable, which contains a variety of fibre types to manage dispersion, carries:
  • 100 kW of DC power
  • two-way fibre optic communications delivering 2 gigabit/second protected bandwidth for each network node
  • clock synchronization via NTP
  • precise clock synchronisation via PTP (IEEE1588)
• Alcatel-Lucent's subsea optical communications amplifiers (a.k.a. repeaters), which amplify light as it becomes attenuated travelling through the fibre

Branching units and spur cables

• Alcatel-Lucent's branching units use passive optical couplers to split communication signals between the backbone and spur cables
• Spur cables (up to 24 km long) connect network nodes to the backbone

Nodes

A fully assembled Alcatel-Lucent node. These nodes are placed within trawl-resistant frames by ROPOS during installation. (Click to enlarge.)
One of the trawl-resistant frames, which house and protect the nodes. (Click to enlarge.)

• Each Alcatel-Lucent node communicates through the optical network using its own dedicated wavelength (colour) of light. Data streams do not pass through intermediate nodes so communications faults in one node do not affect the others. Additionally, individual nodes can be removed or upgraded without modifying the others.
• The SONET protocol is used to transmit Gb Ethernet through multiple optical amplifiers
• Nodes include multiple ODI wet-mate connectors to accommodate multiple junction boxes and secondary nodes
• Nodes also use Alcatel-Lucent medium voltage converters to convert power from our network's 10kV backbone voltage to the 400V distribution voltage
• Nodes are assembled and tested by L-3 MariPro
• Low voltage power management is provided by Texcel

Junction boxes

Junction box prepared for bench testing at the University of Victoria's Marine Technology Centre.

• OceanWorks junction boxes are connected to nodes via optical ethernet cables
• Up to ten science interfaces can be connected to each junction box via SeaCon MinK connectors
• Data streams from the instruments are handled either in native Ethernet format or converted to Ethernet from serial protocols. (RS 232, RS 485, or RS 422).
• Incoming 400V DC power can be passed through to high power devices or other junction boxes or it can be converted to lower voltages (15V, 24V, or 48V) required by many instruments

Instruments

Instruments installed on a platform and ready for deployment in Saanich Inlet, September 2008.

• A wide variety of instruments communicate with the network via extension cables connected to the junction boxes
• An Ethernet switch in each junction box consolidates network traffic

Metrics

The network can support:

• up to 10 nodes; many junction boxes per node; up to 10 devices per junction box
• up to 4 gigabit/second communications with each node
• up to 2 gigabit/second communications with each junction box
• up to 100 megabit/second communications from each instrument to a junction box
• timing precision of +/- 5 microseconds (future switches may allow +/- 300 nanoseconds)
• future upgrade from 2 to 10 gigabit/second wavelengths.