RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of co-pending United States provisional pat. App. Ser. No. 61/525,509, filed Aug. 19, 2011, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to connection of equipment used in subsea operations, such as equipment used in the subsea oil and gas industry, to shore-based stations, and is particularly concerned with a subsea electrical/optical connector unit for connection between a subsea optical cable and an electrical cable in an ethernet transmission system and method for subsea communications.

2. Related Art

Subsea communication systems generally employ electrical ethernet through electrical telecommunications twisted pair cable, or are purely optical fiber communication systems. Purely electrical systems have some limitations in the subsea environment. Standard electrical input/output interconnects and electrical cables can only step out to a distance of around 50 meters. This is because a 10/100 BaseT ethernet cable has a maximum transmission distance of 100 meters at standard atmospheric pressure, after which the signal begins to degrade to an unrecognizable state. A full fiberoptic communication system overcomes this problem, but requires the land-based operator to convert the electrical input/output signals to optical signals prior to connection to the optical transmission system, both onshore and offshore, adding to the expense of such systems.

There are many types of connectors for making electrical and fiber-optic cable connections in hostile or harsh environments, such as underwater or subsea electrical, optical and hybrid electrical and optical connectors which can be repeatedly mated and demated underwater at great ocean depths. The connectors may be electrical only, optical only, or may be hybrid electrical and optical connectors. These connectors typically consist of releasably mateable plug and receptacle units or connector parts, each attached to cables or other devices intended to be joined by the connectors to form completed circuits. Each connector unit contains one or more electrical and/or optical contacts or junctions for engagement with the junctions in the other unit when the two units are mated together. To completely isolate the contacts to be joined from the ambient environment, one or both parts of these connectors house the contacts in oil-filled, pressure-balanced chambers.

The contacts on one side of a subsea or wet mateable electrical connector are typically in the form of pins or probes, while the contacts or junctions on the other side are in the form of sockets for receiving the probes. Typically, the socket contacts are contained in a sealed chamber containing a dielectric fluid or other mobile substance, and the probes enter the chamber via one or more sealed openings which include seals which exclude seawater and/or contaminants from the contact chamber in the mated and unmated conditions. Such electrical connectors are generally known as pin-and-socket type connectors. One example of an electrical underwater pin and socket connector is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,442 of Cairns and is sold by Teledyne ODI, Inc. of Daytona Beach, Fla. under the name NautilusÂ®.

SUMMARY

Embodiments described herein provide an electrical-optical (EO) subsea end connector unit configured for connection to a subsea optical or electro-optical cable and having a built-in, bi-directional electrical to optical media converter, and an electro-optical subsea ethernet transmission system and method using the end connector unit for bi-directional communication between subsea optical cables and electrical ethernet cables.

According to one aspect, a subsea electrical-optical end connector unit is provided which has a first end configured for connection to a subsea optical or electro-optical cable or jumper cable and a second end configured for connection to an electrical cable. The connector has a first chamber containing a media converter module having a first or optical input/output junction communicating with optical fibers in an optical cable connected to the first end of the connector unit and a second or electrical input/output junction. Electrical wires or conductors extend between the second input/output junction and the second end of the connector unit and are configured for communication with at least signal carrying electrical wires in an electrical ethernet cable in communication with the second end of the unit. In some cases, the electrical ethernet cable may be a subsea cable, but in other cases it may be regular electrical ethernet cable. The electrical-optical converter connector unit connects to the appropriate counterpart connector, be it a plug or receptacle, which may be mounted on a piece of equipment. In one embodiment, electrical power carrying wires extend from a connected electro-optical cable through at least the first chamber and communicate with electrical power wires in an electrical cable connected to the second end of the unit.

In one embodiment, the first end of the connector unit comprises a cable termination assembly for receiving the end of a subsea optical or electro-optical ethernet cable, with optical fibers from the cable extending into the first chamber and connected to the first input/output junction of the media converter module, while the second end comprises one part of a subsea mateable electrical connector configured for releasable mating engagement with a mating part of the subsea mateable electrical connector at the end of the electrical cable.

According to another aspect, a subsea transmission system comprises at least one subsea optical or electro-optical cable and at least one electrical ethernet cable, and at least a first electro-optical connector unit having a first end connected to one end of the electro-optical cable and a second end connected to one end of the electrical cable. In one embodiment, the subsea optical or electro-optical cable has a second subsea electrical end connector unit at its second end and a second electrical ethernet cable is connected to the second end of the second end connector unit. One or both of the electrical ethernet cables may be regular electrical ethernet cables or subsea electrical ethernet cables. One or more signal- carrying optical fibers extend from the first end of the optical or electro-optical cable into the internal chamber of the first end connector unit and are connected to the first junction of the media converter module, and one or more electrical signal wires or conductors extend from the first junction and communicate with electrical signal wires in the first electrical cable via mated first and second subsea electrical connector units in the second end of the end connector unit and the corresponding end of the first electrical cable, respectively.

In one embodiment, the electro-optical media converter module is enclosed in a reinforced one atmosphere chamber built to withstand the pressure of the surrounding subsea environment. Electrical signal conductors extending from the second subsea electrical connector unit may communicate with the electrical input/output junction of the media converter circuit via a hermetic electrical penetrator which penetrates the wall of the one atmosphere chamber through a sealed opening. Electrical conductors extend from the electrical penetrator to the first junction of the media converter module. The electrical penetrator may be an electrical penetrator as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0034041 of Teledyne ODI, Inc., the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In another aspect of the invention, an optical or electro-optical ethernet cable or jumper cable is provided having a plug or socket end connector unit at each end of the cable for connection to another cable or having a feedthrough at one end to connect to an equipment housing. One or both of the end connector units may be an underwater electrical to optical connector unit with a built-in electro-optical media converter module. This allows the maximum ethernet transmission distance or step out distance to be increased from fifty meters as in a purely electrical ethernet system to distances up to 40 km. Transmission is bi-directional.

In one embodiment, an electrical to optical end connector unit is provided at both ends of the cable. In this embodiment, an electrical ethernet signal is converted to optical ethernet at a first end connector unit and the optical ethernet signal is provided to the attached end of the jumper cable, transmitted through the cable, and then converted back to an electrical ethernet signal at the electro-optical media converter in the second or far end connector unit. In another embodiment, an electrical-optical connector unit with a built-in electro-optical media converter is located at only one end of the cable, and the opposite end has a standard wet mateable optical or hybrid electro-optical plug or socket connector or feedthrough.

This arrangement allows land-based customers to use standard electrical input/output signals for communication with subsea equipment such as subsea oil and gas installations located up to 40 km offshore, without having to convert over to optical signals on land. Instead, the underwater or subsea electrical to optical connector unit performs all of the required optical conversion, avoiding the cost of placing optical conversion hardware in the land-based equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by study of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a subsea ethernet transmission system with an optical ethernet cable having electrical to optical end connector units at each end of the cable;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one embodiment of one of the optical ethernet cable end connector units of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the end connector unit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the cable end connector unit on the lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of one embodiment of the electro-optical media converter of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the optical cable termination in the end connector unit of FIGS. 3 to 4;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the cable grips of FIGS. 4 and 6; and

FIG. 8 illustrates an optical cable terminated and in sealing engagement with optical fibers and electrical power wires extending into the sealed chamber inside the connector unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain embodiments as disclosed herein provide for a bi-directional electrical to optical end connector unit for a subsea optical or electro-optical ethernet cable allowing releasable connection to an electrical ethernet cable, and an optical ethernet cable comprising a pressure balanced, oil-filled hose with an electrical to optical connector unit at one or both ends of the cable.

After reading this description it will become apparent to one skilled in the art how to implement the invention in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications. However, although various embodiments of the present invention will be described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and not limitation. As such, this detailed description of various alternative embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope or breadth of the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of an optical or electro-optical ethernet cable or jumper cable 10 with integrated subsea electrical to optical end connectors or units 12 secured at each end of the cable. Each connector unit 12 contains an in-built, bi-directional electrical to optical converter module or media converter, as described in more detail below. In alternative embodiments, a connector unit 12 may be provided at one end of the cable only, while the other end is terminated to a standard subsea optical connector or electro-optical hybrid connector or feedthrough fitting. FIGS. 3 to 8 illustrate one embodiment of the electrical to optical connector unit 12 in more detail. The connector unit 12 is configured for making connection to a mating electrical connector unit (not illustrated) at the end of an electrical ethernet cable 11 such as a 10/100/1000 BASE-T cable.

The optical/electro-optical ethernet cable 10 contains one or more ethernet signal carrying optical fibers, which may be single mode or multi-mode fibers, along with two to four electrical power conductor wires (two of which may be redundant), and comprises a cable or a pressure balanced, oil-filled hose designed for subsea communications, such as an oil-filled hose or cable manufactured by Teledyne ODI, Inc. of Daytona Beach, Fla. However, unlike the standard optical ethernet cable which has hose end fittings terminated to optical or electro-optical connector units or feedthroughs, at least one end of cable 10 is terminated to an electrical to optical (EO) connector unit 12 configured for releasable connection to a mating connector unit of an electrical signal carrying ethernet cable 11. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, both ends of cable 10 are terminated to a respective electrical to optical (EO) connector unit 12.

FIG. 2 illustrates the optical or electro-optical ethernet cable or jumper cable 10 of FIG. 1 with electrical to optical connector units 12 at each end in more detail. As best illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 4, in one embodiment each connector unit 12 comprises an outer housing having a first housing portion or module 14 having an optical cable input port 15 for receiving an end of cable 10 and a cable connector portion or module 16 which has an open second end 19 and contains a subsea mateable electrical connector unit or module 18 for releasable connection to a mating electrical connector unit (not illustrated) at the end of electrical cable 11. Electrical connector unit 18 is not shown in detail in FIG. 4 since it may comprise any standard plug or receptacle unit releasably mateable with a mating receptacle or plug unit at the end of an electrical ethernet cable, such as the underwater electrical plug and receptacle connector sold by Teledyne ODI, Inc. of Daytona Beach, Fla. under the name NautilusÂ®. In this embodiment, connector portion 16 comprises the outer shell of such a plug or receptacle unit.

A second housing or junction portion 17 connects cable connector portion 16 to electrical input port 32 of the first housing portion 14 which contains media converter or bi-directional electro-optical converter module 28, as illustrated in FIG. 4. An ROV grip 20 is secured to the second housing portion 16, as seen in FIG. 2.

Media converter 28 is enclosed within reinforced outer housing 14 sealed from the external subsea environment. The components of circuit or converter 28 may be mounted on a single layer or multi-layer circuit board 29 mounted on a rigid support platform or frame 50 which may be secured to the reinforced walls of housing 14 in any suitable manner. A fiber management device (not illustrated) may be provided for fibers 25 extending between the optical cable input and media converter 28. One example of a suitable fiber management device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,769,265 of Cairns. The housing 14 is of high strength material and construction and is suitable for subsea use, and may be of similar construction to the walls of standard subsea equipment enclosures or housings. The first housing portion or module 14 is a reinforced, hermetically sealed one atmosphere housing of high strength material constructed to withstand high external pressure typically encountered in a subsea environment and contains a hermetically sealed atmospheric chamber 22 which may be a one atmosphere chamber.

Bi-directional optical/electrical media converter is mounted in an upper portion 24 of chamber 22, and is illustrated in more detail in FIG. 5, which is described below. An optical cable termination assembly 27 is mounted in the inlet port 15 of one atmosphere housing 14 and communicates with the lower portion of chamber 22. Single mode or multi-mode optical fiber or fibers 25 entering chamber 22 from optical cable termination assembly 27 are routed to an optical input/output junction 26 of circuit 28, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. Electrical power wires 29 of optical cable 10 extend directly from optical cable termination assembly 27 through the chamber 22 and are connected to appropriate power carrying pins 31 of an electrical penetrator 30 which is located in sealing engagement with the electrical input/output port 32 of housing module 14 between one atmosphere chamber 22 and a sealed, pressure compensated, oil or mobile substance filled chamber 33 in junction or connection housing portion 17. Chamber 33 extends from the outlet end of plug or receptacle connector module 18 to the electrical penetrator 30. Electrical penetrator 30 may be an electrical penetrator as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0034041 of Teledyne ODI, Inc., the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, or any other known type of electrical penetrator.

Although the electrical cable connector portion 16 and second housing or junction 17 are formed separately in the illustrated embodiment, they may be formed as a single or unitary housing in alternative embodiments. Additional, all three portions 14, 17 and 16 may also be formed in a unitary housing in other embodiments.

Electrical connecter module 18 is similar or identical to a standard subsea or wet mateable electrical plug or receptacle connector unit or module, for example a plug or receptacle connector unit as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,442 or 5,171,158 of Cairns, or in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0130024 of Cairns, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference, or other such subsea electrical connector units. Connector unit 18 is therefore designed for releasable connection to a mating, standard electrical receptacle or plug connector unit at the end of an electrical ethernet cable 11.

In one embodiment, connector unit 18 comprises a 12 way electrical connector with twelve electrical contacts and associated conductors or electrical wires 35 extend from the contacts through the sealed, pressure compensated, oil or mobile substance filled chamber 33 in second housing portion 17 and up to respective penetration pins or sockets 36 of the penetrator 30, as illustrated in FIG. 4. Some of the wires 35 are signal carrying wires, while others are power carrying wires. The oil-filled chamber 33 is pressure balanced to the surrounding subsea environment via compensation bladder 38 at one end of the chamber which is exposed to the subsea environment via port 39. The electrical penetrator 30 is sealed in connecting passageway or port 32 between the oil-filled chamber 33 and one atmosphere chamber 22 via O-ring seals 40 to form a sealed barrier between the chambers. The power carrying wires which communicate with electrical power carrying wires of a connected electrical cable communicate with penetrator pins 31 connected to the electrical power wires 29 of the optical cable 10. Signal carrying wires which communicate with the signal wires of a connected electrical cable are connected to signal carrying penetrator pins 31A. Electrical signal wires 42 extend in chamber 22 from the penetrator pins 31A to the electrical input/output junction 43 of the media converter or circuit 28 (see FIG. 5).

The electrical to optical media converter circuit or unit 28 is illustrated in more detail in FIG. 5. Circuit 28 converts electrical signals received at an electrical input/output (I/O) port or junction 43 of circuit 28 into optical signals transmitted at optical input/output (I/O) port or junction 26, and converts optical signals received at I/O port 26 into electrical signals at I/O port 43. Although junctions 26 and 43 are shown as single I/O junctions, it will be understood that two or more electrical I/O junctions and optical I/O junctions are provided in some embodiments, depending on the number of separate signal carrying wires and fibers. A controller area network (CAN) bus arrangement may be used for signal communications in circuit 28.

Electrical signal carrying wires of an electrical ethernet cable communicate with the I/O port or junction 43 of converter module or circuit 28 via electrical penetrator 30 which extends through sealed electrical input/output port 32 of one atmosphere housing 14, as noted above. In one embodiment, twelve electrical conductors (four twisted pairs for the electrical ethernet signal, and four power conductors of which two may be redundant) extend from the electrical connector unit 18 through fluid filled chamber 33 to a first end of penetrator 30, and two to four optical fibers 25 extend between the cable termination assembly 18 and the optical input/output junction 26 of the electro-optical converter module, with up to four electrical power conductors or wires 29 extending through chamber 22 from optical cable to the second end of penetrator 30 for electrical communication with the power conductors in electrical cable 11. However, a greater or lesser number of electrical conductors and optical fibers may be provided in alternative embodiments, and the optical fiber may be single mode fiber or multimode fiber.

The circuit basically comprises an optical transmitter and receiver 140 connected to the optical input/output port or junction 26, a bi-directional optical/electrical converter module or chip 142, a micro controller 143 which controls operation of the converter module 142, and a quad transformer module 144 connected to electrical input/output device 130, which may be an RJ-45 connector in one embodiment. An AC power supply (not illustrated) is connected to AC filter 145 which is followed by AC-DC converter 146, and DC-DC converters 148 for the precise voltages needed by the module components, specifically the optical transmitter and receiver 140, the converter chip 142, and the microprocessor or microcontroller 143, as indicated in FIG. 5. AC filter 145 and AC-DC converter 146 are omitted where the power supply is a DC supply voltage. Power supply for media converter 28 may alternatively be provided by power carrying wires of either the electrical or optical cables connected to the unit, and in this case the power carrying wires are connected to DC-DC converter 148.

In one embodiment, the subsea optical CAN bus system described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/551,346 may be used for conversion of electrical signals to optical signals carried along the optical or electro-optical jumper cable and vice versa, and the contents of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/551,346 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the optical cable termination assembly 27 which communicates with the one atmosphere chamber 22 of housing portion 14. As illustrated, assembly 27 includes a cable termination sleeve 54 sealably engaged or secured in input port 15 of housing portion 14, a first end cap or gland seal housing or strength member 55 which is bolted to surrounding wall regions of housing portion 14 and to the outer end of sleeve 54, and a second end cap 66 secured to the opposite or inner end of sleeve 54. End cap 55 has a cable input or guide portion 56 and an inwardly directed end portion 58 which captures the cable termination sleeve 54. O-ring seals 53 are provided between an input end portion of sleeve 54 and inwardly projecting end portion 58 of strength member 55. Additional O-ring seals 51 are located between the outer surface of sleeve 54 and the surrounding wall of input port 15. First and second cable grip housings 59, 60 of stepped internal diameter for gripping different layers of a cable are mounted between a first gland seal 63 and spacer 61 at the input end of sleeve 54 and end wall 62 of sleeve 54. A second gland seal 64 is mounted in a recessed end portion 65 of wall 62 and secured in place by end cap 66.

FIG. 7 illustrates the cable grip housing 59 in more detail. Cable grip housing 60 is of substantially identical structure but larger internal diameter. Housing 59 has a threaded through bore 68 designed to grip an outer surface of a cable layer, and is formed in two semi-circular halves 59A and 59B. Grip halves 59A and 59B are clamped together via tightening bolts extending through aligned threaded openings 69 in the end faces of the two halves in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction. The two housings 59,60 are secured together by bolts or screw fasteners 70 extending through aligned threaded bores 72, 73 in each half of the respective housing 59, 60 which extend parallel to the axial direction, as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7. Housing 60 has a threaded through bore 74 of larger diameter than the bore 68 in cable grip housing 59

FIG. 8 illustrates an end portion of an optical ethernet cable 10 secured in cable termination portion 27. The outer layer 75 of the cable is gripped by the right most cable grip 60. The armor is cleanly pulled away from the cable and is sandwiched in between the two cable grips. The left most cable grip housing 59 grips the inner layer 76 of the cable. The electrical power wires 29 and optical fibers 25 are seen exiting the stripped portion of the cable and entering the one atmosphere chamber 22 to the left of end cap 66. An outer boot seal 78 (see FIG. 2) extends over a length of the cable 10 as well as the outer guide portion 56 of end plate 55, which has a lip 79 which helps to hold the outer boot seal in place.

As noted above, the electrical wires or conductors in each cable include two to four power conductors. In one embodiment, two of the power conductors or electrical wires in the electrical cable connected to end connector 18 carry electrical power up to 600V/5 A for customer use, and communicate via wires 35 and electrical penetrator 30 with power wires 29 in chamber 22. This allows power to be transmitted from connector unit 12 across jumper cable 10. The other two power carrying electrical wires may be connected to two of the wires 42 routed to circuit board 29 to provide power to media converter 28. These electrical wires carry DC electrical power (5VDC/48VDC/10 W in one embodiment), and in this case the AC filter and AC-DC converter of media converter circuit 28 of FIG. 5 are omitted, and the power supply wires are connected to DC-DC converter module 48. The power for the media converter circuit in each end connector unit 12 is supplied in this manner via the electrical ethernet cable connected at that end of the optical ethernet cable.

The cable end connector unit 12 as described above is designed for use as part of a subsea ethernet transmission system and has an integrated, bi-directional electrical to optical media converter 28 which converts electrical ethernet signals provided from a ground-based facility to the subsea connector unit into optical ethernet signals for longer distance subsea ethernet transmission via jumper cable 10. Unit 12 also converts optical signals transmitted back towards the ground-based facility into electrical ethernet signals for transmission via a short range electrical ethernet cable back to the ground-based facility. This avoids the need for the owner of a ground-based facility having to incur the cost of placing optical conversion hardware inside their ground-based equipment in order to step out up to 40 km off shore. Instead, standard electrical input/output signals can be transmitted and received by the ground-based facility for long distance subsea applications such as are needed for telecommunications and the oil and gas industry, with all conversion needed taking place at subsea electrical to optical subsea connector units with built-in, bi-directional electrical/optical converters.

The above description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles described herein can be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is to be understood that the description and drawings presented herein represent a presently preferred embodiment of the invention and are therefore representative of the subject matter which is broadly contemplated by the present invention. It is further understood that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments that may become obvious to those skilled in the art and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly limited by nothing other than the appended claims.