Locate faults in just 3 minutes per fiber pair across amplified submarine links up to 20,000 km, thanks to an 18-dB dynamic range and 19 dBm in output power.
USO-1618 - Submarine OTDR
Overview
USO-1618 is the industry’s first and fastest co-propagation OTDR (C-OTDR) delivering trusted measurements within minutes to accelerate fault detection and repair for amplified subsea cables.
Applications
Amplified submarine cables
Landing stations (dry plant) and repair vessels (wet plant)
Amplified cable deployment and commissioning
Subsea network maintenance
Capacity upgrades
Highlights
From days to minutes: be first to call the repair vessel
Conventional submarine OTDR testing can take up to six hours per fiber pair. The USO-1618 locates faults in just three minutes per pair—reducing testing time for a 24-pair amplified submarine cable from days to approximately one hour.
High output power and best in class acquisition system deliver up to 18 dB of dynamic range across amplified submarine topologies.
The result: Faster damage assessment, earlier repair coordination, and a shorter path to service restoration.
Unmatched precision for high-stakes subsea decisions
With the industry’s highest output power of 19 dBm, the USO-1618 OTDR delivers clearer traces and stronger signal quality for fault localization with a resolution of approx. 5 m across amplified submarine links up to 20,000 km. Combined with advanced automated analysis, EXFO’s OTDR provides the trusted evidence needed to make faster, high-stakes decisions with certainty.
Simplifying testing from setup to results
- Predefined test configurations allow supervisors to establish approved testing methodologies, parameters, and thresholds in advance, ensuring confident execution and consistency across teams.
- Automated analysis reveals fault locations, while intuitive icon-based link view eliminates the need for manual trace interpretation.
- JSON input and output and REST API control streamline integration with customer cable-management systems.
Deep expertise across the submarine cable lifecycle
Built on EXFO’s 40+ years of industry-acclaimed leadership in OTDRs, the USO-1618 supports the full submarine cable lifecycle—from deployment and commissioning to monitoring, fault localization, repair and post-repair validation.
Combined with EXFO’s broader submarine testing portfolio, it helps operators act faster and with confidence across wet and dry plants.
