An online submarine cable routing detection device and method

Abstract

The present invention discloses an online submarine cable route detection device and method. The present invention installs a data acquisition device at one end of the submarine cable, and the online monitoring device is distributed along the axial direction of the submarine cable; N nodes are provided on the submarine cable, and a measuring line is provided above each node and a magnetic field sensor is distributed; all measuring lines are traversed, starting from the measuring line of the first node, the magnetic field generating device scans along the measuring line direction, and the magnetic field sensor is used to detect the magnetic field data; the data acquisition device receives the magnetic field data sent back by the magnetic field sensor in each node, and the PC analyzes and obtains the route detection result. The present invention can realize the effective detection of the submarine cable route only by online observation of the data collected by the magnetic field sensor. There is no need for complex equipment debugging and professional operating skills, which greatly reduces the working difficulty and workload of the operator, and can quickly get started and carry out detection work, effectively saving manpower and time costs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of submarine cable monitoring, and relates to an online submarine cable route detection device and method, which are used for online detection of the position of a submarine cable, thereby improving the effect and efficiency of submarine cable route detection. Background Art

[0002] In the field of modern marine engineering, submarine cables (including electrical cables and optical cables, etc.) occupy an extremely critical position. They play an indispensable role in marine communications, offshore energy transmission, and power and signal distribution of various marine facilities. They are important infrastructure to ensure the normal operation of marine economic activities.

[0003] However, the maintenance and management of submarine cables face many severe challenges, among which accurate detection of their routing positions has become one of the key problems to ensure their stable operation. The currently commonly used detection technology has significant defects when applied to submarine cables.

[0004] In the field of acoustic detection, although multi-beam bathymetry, side-scan sonar and other technologies can conduct a certain degree of exploration of the seabed topography, when faced with cables buried deep in the seabed, the complex geological structure of the seabed strongly interferes with the sound waves, such as absorption and scattering of the strata, and sound wave distortion caused by ocean currents. This makes it difficult for these acoustic technologies to accurately detect the specific location of the cables and provide reliable location information for cable maintenance.

[0005] From the perspective of magnetic detection technology, traditional detection methods based on magnetic principles are plagued by problems in the marine environment. The complex and changeable geomagnetic field background of the ocean itself, coupled with the mechanical vibration noise and electromagnetic interference of electrical equipment generated during the operation of the detection equipment platform, these interference factors overlap and interfere with the weak magnetic signals of the cable itself, resulting in large errors in the positioning of submarine cables by magnetic technology, and it is difficult to guarantee accuracy.

[0006] When a submarine cable fails, existing detection technologies such as TDR (time domain reflectometer) and OTDR (optical time domain reflectometer) can only determine the distance from the fault point to one end of the cable, but cannot clearly determine the specific three-dimensional spatial coordinates of the fault point in the ocean. This makes it like looking for a needle in a haystack for maintenance personnel in the vast ocean, and it is difficult to quickly and accurately locate the fault location, which greatly increases maintenance time and cost, and seriously affects the normal operation of marine engineering and the continuity of related services.

[0007] In summary, the limitations of existing detection technology have seriously hindered the efficient maintenance and management of submarine cables. There is an urgent need to develop an innovative submarine cable routing detection technology with higher accuracy and reliability to effectively cope with the complexity of the marine environment and the high requirements of cable operation and maintenance, and ensure the safe and stable operation of the submarine cable system. Summary of the invention

[0008] In order to solve the problems existing in the above traditional methods and improve the detection effect and efficiency of submarine cable routes, the present invention provides an online submarine cable route detection device and method. This device and method uses a highly sensitive magnetic field sensor to bind with the submarine cable route, and determines the submarine cable route based on the real-time detection data returned by the magnetic field sensor.

[0009] In a first aspect, the present invention provides an online submarine cable route detection device, comprising an online monitoring device, a magnetic field generating device, a data acquisition device, and a PC; the signal output end of the online monitoring device is connected to the signal input end of the data acquisition device, the signal output end of the data acquisition device is connected to one signal input end of the PC, and the signal output end of the online monitoring device is connected to another signal input end of the PC; The online monitoring device is a strip-shaped monitoring device comprising a plurality of nodes, each node being equipped with a magnetic field sensor for acquiring magnetic field data; wherein the nodes are arranged at equal intervals; The magnetic field generating device is used to generate a sinusoidal alternating magnetic field, and simultaneously collect the position of the magnetic field generating device; The data acquisition device is a host computer that receives data transmitted by the online monitoring device; The PC is used to receive the data sent back by the data acquisition device and the magnetic field generating device, and process the data to obtain the routing position of the submarine cable and the actual length of the submarine cable.

[0010] Preferably, the magnetic field generating device comprises a coil, a signal generator and a locator; the signal generator is used to provide a signal to the coil, the coil is used to generate a magnetic field according to the signal generator, and the locator is used to give the position of the magnetic field generating device.

[0011] Preferably, the online monitoring device further comprises a power module and a communication module; the power module supplies power to the magnetic field sensor, and the communication module transmits the data acquired by the magnetic field sensor to the data acquisition device.

[0012] Preferably, the submarine cable is an optical cable or an electrical cable.

[0013] Preferably, the shell of the magnetic field generating device is made of non-metallic material.

[0014] Preferably, the online monitoring device is pre-packaged inside the submarine cable, or independently sealed and attached to the submarine cable.

[0015] Preferably, the frequency of the sinusoidal alternating magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating device is different from the frequency of the alternating current transmitted by the submarine cable.

[0016] Preferably, the direction of the sinusoidal alternating magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating device is perpendicular to the horizontal plane where the submarine cable is located.

[0017] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for detecting a submarine cable route, the method comprising: Step (1), installation of online monitoring device and data acquisition device: A data acquisition device is installed at one end of the submarine cable, and the online monitoring device is distributed along the axial direction of the submarine cable; Step (2), detect the location of each node of the online monitoring device: The submarine cable is evenly divided into N nodes, wherein the first node and the Nth node are located at the two ends of the submarine cable respectively; the nodes of the online monitoring device coincide with the nodes of the submarine cable; A survey line is set above each node, and the survey line direction of the current survey line is perpendicular to the axial direction of the submarine cable; each survey line is located in the same horizontal plane, and a magnetic field generating device is used to generate a sinusoidal alternating magnetic field with controllable frequency, magnitude and direction; Traversing all the survey lines, starting from the survey line of the first node, the magnetic field generating device scans the sea area where the submarine cables are laid along the survey line direction, and uses the magnetic field sensor to detect the magnetic field data at the position directly above the current survey line node; Step (3): Observe the data online via PC: The data acquisition device receives the magnetic field data sent back by the magnetic field sensor in each node of the online monitoring device online, and the PC receives the position data of the magnetic field generating device and the data received by the data acquisition device, and obtains the routing positions of multiple submarine cable nodes and the actual length of the submarine cable; specifically: When each measuring line completes the measurement, the data detected by the magnetic field sensors of all nodes are recorded, where the magnetic field amplitude detected by the nth node that changes with time t is B n (t), record the detected position information of the magnetic field generating device changing with time t, including longitude lon(t) and latitude lat(t). Filter the maximum magnetic field amplitude B of each node changing with time t max (n), record the maximum magnetic field amplitude B max (n) time point T n , that is, it satisfies the following formula:

[0018] B max (n) = B n (Tn ) (1) Compare the maximum magnetic field amplitude B of each node max (n), if the maximum magnetic field amplitude of the Nth node is B max (N) is the maximum value, then the routing position of the submarine cable at the Nth node is longitude lon(T N ) and latitude lat(T N ), and the actual length L from this position to the first node satisfies the following formula: L = L0·(N-1) (2) Where L0 represents the distance between adjacent nodes; N ≥ 2; The sea area where the submarine cable is laid is scanned according to multiple survey lines, and the routing positions of multiple submarine cable nodes and the actual length of the submarine cable are obtained by processing the data received by the PC.

[0019] After utilizing the method of the present invention, the position of each node of the online monitoring device can be detected by online observing the data of the magnetic field sensor, thereby detecting the submarine cable route, thereby improving the effect and efficiency of the submarine cable route detection.

[0020] The beneficial effects of the present invention include at least the following: 1) The operation process of the present invention is highly simplified, and only the data collected by the online observation magnetic field sensor can be used to effectively detect the submarine cable route. No complicated equipment debugging and professional operation skills are required, which greatly reduces the difficulty and workload of operators, and allows them to quickly get started and carry out detection work, effectively saving manpower and time costs.

[0021] 2) With the help of the design that closely binds the high-precision magnetic field sensor with the submarine cable route, the interference of the carrying platform to the magnetic sensor is cleverly avoided, thereby greatly improving the accuracy of detecting the submarine cable route, and being able to accurately determine the location of the cable, providing reliable basic data for subsequent maintenance and management work.

[0022] 3) Through the online real-time monitoring of the magnetic field sensor, the present invention can simultaneously realize the rapid detection of the routing position and cable length of the submarine cable or optical cable, greatly improving the detection efficiency, completing the collection and analysis of multiple key information at one time, effectively shortening the detection cycle, and reducing the consumption of manpower, material resources and time, so that the operation and maintenance of the submarine cable can be carried out more timely and efficiently.

[0023] 4) Since it only relies on magnetic field sensors, it only needs to ensure the performance of the sensors to provide solid guarantees for the long-term monitoring and detection of submarine cable routes, ensuring that route detection and fault warning can be effectively performed throughout the entire service life of the submarine cable, reducing the risks of communication interruption or energy transmission obstruction caused by cable failures.

[0024] In summary, the present invention has excellent performance in terms of operational convenience, accuracy, high efficiency and long-term reliability, has brought significant progress to the development of submarine cable routing detection technology, and has extremely high practical value and broad application prospects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the module of the device of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 2 Detailed module schematic diagram of the device of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 3 The magnetic field amplitude result diagram of different nodes.

[0028] Markings in the figure: 1. Online monitoring device; 2. Magnetic field generating device; 3. Data acquisition device; 4. PC; 5. Magnetic field sensor; 6. Power module; 7. Communication module; 8. Coil; 9. Signal generator; 10. Positioner. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] As can be seen from the background technology, commonly used submarine cable route detection technologies such as multi-beam sounding, side-scan sonar and other acoustic technologies cannot detect deeply buried submarine cables, and traditional magnetic technologies are easily interfered by the noise of the carrying platform. In the face of submarine cable failures, detection technologies such as TDR and OTDR can determine the distance from the fault point to one end of the submarine cable, but cannot determine the specific spatial location of the fault point.

[0030] Therefore, the present invention uses a submarine cable to install a magnetic field sensor at a certain distance, and holds a movable magnetic field generating device, which can generate a sinusoidal alternating magnetic field with controllable frequency, direction, and size. The frequency selection is different from the frequency of the alternating current transmitted in the submarine cable. When the carried magnetic field generating device is located directly above a magnetic field sensor, the magnetic field amplitude detected by the magnetic field sensor is larger than that of other magnetic field sensors on the submarine cable, thereby detecting the route of the submarine cable.

[0031] The present invention will be further analyzed below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0032] This embodiment provides an online submarine cable route detection device, wherein the submarine cable is an optical cable or an electrical cable, such as Figure 1-2It includes an online monitoring device 1, a magnetic field generating device 2, a data acquisition device 3, and a PC 4; the signal output end of the online monitoring device 1 is connected to the signal input end of the data acquisition device 3, the signal output end of the data acquisition device 3 is connected to one signal input end of the PC 4, and the signal output end of the online monitoring device 1 is connected to another signal input end of the PC 4; The online monitoring device 1 is a belt-shaped monitoring device comprising a plurality of nodes, each of which is equipped with a magnetic field sensor 5 for acquiring magnetic field data. These sensors can use advanced TMR sensor technology, have excellent magnetic field sensing capabilities, and can accurately capture subtle changes in the surrounding magnetic field. The nodes are arranged in an equidistant manner. In the actual embodiment, a node is set every 10m. This layout ensures the comprehensive and uniform collection of magnetic field information along the submarine cable, providing a solid data foundation for subsequent precise analysis.

[0033] To ensure the stable operation of the magnetic field sensor 5, the online monitoring device 1 is equipped with a special power module 6. The power module 6 is carefully designed to provide a stable +5V power supply voltage for the TMR sensor, effectively avoiding problems such as unstable sensor performance or data acquisition errors that may be caused by voltage fluctuations, and ensuring that the sensor always maintains a good working condition in a complex marine environment.

[0034] In the data transmission link, the communication module 7 plays a key role. All data collected by the magnetic field sensor 5 are efficiently transmitted to the data acquisition device 3 through the communication module 7 in a wired transmission manner. This wired transmission method can effectively resist the electromagnetic interference that may exist in the marine environment while ensuring the stability and reliability of data transmission, and ensure the integrity and accuracy of the data.

[0035] The magnetic field generating device 2 is used to generate a sinusoidal alternating magnetic field with controllable frequency, magnitude and direction, and simultaneously collect the position of the magnetic field generating device 2. Specifically, the housing of the magnetic field generating device 2 is made of non-metallic material.

[0036] In one embodiment, the magnetic field generating device 2 includes a coil 8, a signal generator 9 and a locator 10; the signal generator 9 is used to provide a signal to the coil 8, the coil 8 is used to generate a magnetic field according to the signal generator 9, and the locator 10 is used to give the position of the magnetic field generating device 2. Typically but not restrictively, the signal generator 9 can use an AC power supply of model IT7800 produced by ITECH, which can output a stable 1A sinusoidal alternating current to drive the coil 8 to generate a magnetic field. In actual operation, the frequency of the sinusoidal alternating magnetic field generated by the coil 8 is set to 13Hz, and its direction is perpendicular to the horizontal plane where the submarine cable is located. This specific frequency and direction setting is obtained through a large number of experiments and theoretical analysis, which can effectively avoid mutual interference with the magnetic field that may be generated by the submarine cable itself, and at the same time highlight the magnetic field characteristics generated by the magnetic field generating device 2, which is convenient for subsequent detection and analysis based on the magnetic field sensor 5. The locator 10 may adopt the Beidou positioning system, which can obtain the position information of the magnetic field generating device 2 in real time and accurately, and quickly transmit the position data to the PC 4 through the 4G network, providing a key position reference for subsequent data processing and routing positioning.

[0037] The data acquisition device 3 is a host computer that receives data transmitted by the online monitoring device 1; the data acquisition device and the online monitoring device can be connected by wired communication.

[0038] The PC 4 is used to receive the data sent back by the data acquisition device 3 and the magnetic field generating device 2, and process the data to obtain the route position of the submarine cable and the actual length of the submarine cable. The PC can be connected to the locator 10 and the data acquisition device by wireless communication to observe and process the data sent back by them.

[0039] The sinusoidal alternating magnetic field from the magnetic field generating device acts on the online monitoring device of the submarine cable. When the magnetic field generating device is closer to a node of the online monitoring device, the magnetic field amplitude detected by the magnetic field sensor of the node becomes larger. Based on the data of the magnetic field sensor in each node of the online monitoring device, the routes of all nodes can be detected, thereby improving the accuracy and efficiency of detecting the route of the submarine cable without increasing the complexity of the detection method.

[0040] This embodiment also provides a submarine cable route detection method, the method comprising: Step (1), installation of online monitoring device 1 and data acquisition device 3: The data acquisition device 3 is installed at one end of the submarine cable, and the online monitoring device 1 is distributed axially along the submarine cable; the installation method of the online monitoring device 1 has a certain flexibility, and it can be pre-packaged inside the submarine cable to achieve close integration with the cable, or it can be independently sealed and attached to the submarine cable to ensure that it can be effectively implemented under different cable installation environments and operation and maintenance requirements. In the embodiment, the online monitoring device 1 is a sealed belt device containing multiple nodes, in which a node is installed every 10m, and the magnetic field sensor 5 in each node adopts a TMR sensor. The power module 6 provides a +5V power supply voltage to the TMR sensor. The data of all magnetic field sensors 5 are transmitted to the data acquisition device 3 through the communication module 7 by wire, and the data acquisition device 3 transmits the collected data to the PC 4 through 4G.

[0041] Step (2), detecting the position of each node of the online monitoring device 1: The submarine cable is evenly divided into N nodes, where N≥2, wherein the first node and the Nth node are located at two ends of the submarine cable, respectively. At this time, a magnetic field sensor 5 is installed on each node.

[0042] A survey line is set above each node, and the survey line direction of the current survey line is perpendicular to the axial direction of the submarine cable; each survey line is located in the same horizontal plane. This layout ensures that the magnetic field generating device 2 can fully cover each node during the scanning process and obtain accurate magnetic field data.

[0043] During the scanning, the magnetic field generating device 2 is placed on the ship, starting from the shore, and traversing all the survey lines in a predetermined order. Starting from the survey line of the first node, the magnetic field generating device 2 slowly moves along the survey line direction to scan the sea area where the submarine cable is laid. In this process, the magnetic field sensor 5 is used to detect the magnetic field data of the position directly above the current survey line node in real time, and these data are finally transmitted to the PC 4 through the communication module 7 and the data acquisition device 3.

[0044] Specifically, the frequency of the sinusoidal alternating magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating device 2 is different from the frequency of the alternating current transmitted by the submarine cable, that is, different from the magnetic field of the submarine cable itself. In addition, the direction of the sinusoidal alternating magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating device 2 is perpendicular to the horizontal plane where the submarine cable is located.

[0045] Step (3), observe the data online through PC 4: The data acquisition device 3 receives online the magnetic field data sent back by the magnetic field sensor 5 in each node of the online monitoring device 1, and the PC 4 receives the position data of the magnetic field generating device 2 and the data received by the data acquisition device 3; When each measuring line is completed, the data detected by the magnetic field sensors 5 of all nodes are recorded, where the magnetic field amplitude detected by the nth node that changes with time t is B n (t), record the detected position information of the magnetic field generating device 2 changing with time t, including longitude lon(t) and latitude lat(t). Filter the maximum magnetic field amplitude B of each node changing with time t max (n), record the maximum magnetic field amplitude B max (n) time point T n , that is, it satisfies the following formula:

[0046] B max (n) = B n (T n ) (1) Compare the maximum magnetic field amplitude B of each node max (n), if the maximum magnetic field amplitude of the Nth node is B max (N) is the maximum value, then the routing position of the submarine cable at the Nth node is longitude lon(T N ) and latitude lat(T N ), and the actual length L from this position to the first node satisfies the following formula: L = L0·(N-1) (2) Where L0 represents the distance between adjacent nodes; N ≥ 1; The sea area where the submarine cable is laid is scanned according to the multiple survey lines, and the routing positions of multiple submarine cable nodes and the actual length of the submarine cable are obtained by processing the data received by the PC 4.

[0047] like Figure 3 As shown, the submarine cable route detection data of the present invention is represented by the position of each node near the magnetic field generating device 2 (abscissa) and the magnetic field amplitude (ordinate) generated by the magnetic field generating device 2 at each node.

[0048] The above results are the maximum magnetic field amplitudes detected by nearby nodes when the magnetic field generating device 2 is located at a vertical distance of 10m directly above a node (the horizontal axis is the zero point), and the nodes are 10m apart.

[0049] During the entire implementation process, the various components worked closely together and the operating procedures were rigorous and orderly, which fully utilized the technical advantages of the present invention, effectively solved many problems faced by traditional submarine cable routing detection technology, and provided an efficient and reliable solution for the operation and maintenance management of submarine cables.

[0050] The above results show that the maximum magnetic field amplitude of the node closest to the magnetic field generating device 2 is the largest. Therefore, the present invention can effectively detect the submarine cable route by detecting the nodes. While determining the submarine cable route, the distance from the submarine cable position to the shore is determined by the distance between each node.

[0051] The above is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that a person skilled in the art can make several improvements and modifications without departing from the principle of the present invention. These improvements and modifications are also considered to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An online submarine cable route detection device, characterized in that: It includes an online monitoring device, a magnetic field generating device, a data acquisition device, and a PC; the signal output end of the online monitoring device is connected to the signal input end of the data acquisition device, the signal output end of the data acquisition device is connected to one signal input end of the PC, and the signal output end of the online monitoring device is connected to another signal input end of the PC; The online monitoring device is a strip-shaped monitoring device comprising a plurality of nodes, each node being equipped with a magnetic field sensor for acquiring magnetic field data; The nodes are set at equal intervals; The magnetic field generating device is used to generate a sinusoidal alternating magnetic field, and simultaneously collect the position of the magnetic field generating device; The data acquisition device is a host computer that receives data transmitted by the online monitoring device; The PC is used to receive the data sent back by the data acquisition device and the magnetic field generating device, and process the data to obtain the routing position of the submarine cable and the actual length of the submarine cable.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The magnetic field generating device comprises a coil, a signal generator and a locator; the signal generator is used to provide a signal to the coil, the coil is used to generate a magnetic field according to the signal generator, and the locator is used to give the position of the magnetic field generating device.

3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The online monitoring device also includes a power module and a communication module; the power module supplies power to the magnetic field sensor, and the communication module transmits the data acquired by the magnetic field sensor to the data acquisition device.

4. The device according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that: The submarine cable is an optical cable or an electrical cable.

5. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shell of the magnetic field generating device is made of non-metallic material.

6. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The online monitoring device is pre-packaged inside the submarine cable, or independently sealed and attached to the submarine cable.

7. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The frequency of the sinusoidal alternating magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating device is different from the frequency of the alternating current transmitted by the submarine cable.

8. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The direction of the sinusoidal alternating magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating device is perpendicular to the horizontal plane where the submarine cable is located.

9. A method for detecting submarine cable routing based on the device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that The method includes: Step (1), installation of online monitoring device and data acquisition device: A data acquisition device is installed at one end of the submarine cable, and the online monitoring device is distributed along the axial direction of the submarine cable; Step (2), detect the location of each node of the online monitoring device: The submarine cable is evenly divided into N nodes, wherein the first node and the Nth node are located at the two ends of the submarine cable respectively; the nodes of the online monitoring device coincide with the nodes of the submarine cable; A survey line is set above each node, and the survey line direction of the current survey line is perpendicular to the axial direction of the submarine cable; each survey line is located in the same horizontal plane; Traversing all the survey lines, starting from the survey line of the first node, the magnetic field generating device scans the sea area where the submarine cables are laid along the survey line direction, and uses the magnetic field sensor to detect the magnetic field data at the position directly above the current survey line node; Step (3): Observe the data online via PC: The data acquisition device receives online the magnetic field data sent back by the magnetic field sensor in each node of the online monitoring device, and the PC receives the position data of the magnetic field generating device and the data received by the data acquisition device to obtain the routing positions of multiple submarine cable nodes and the actual length of the submarine cable.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that: When each measuring line completes the measurement, the data detected by the magnetic field sensors of all nodes are recorded, where the magnetic field amplitude detected by the nth node that changes with time t is B n (t), record the detected position information of the magnetic field generating device changing with time t, including longitude lon(t) and latitude lat(t); filter the maximum magnetic field amplitude B of each node changing with time t max (n), record the maximum magnetic field amplitude B max (n) time point T n , that is, it satisfies the following formula: B max (n)=B n (T n ) (1) Compare the maximum magnetic field amplitude B of each node max (n), if the maximum magnetic field amplitude of the Nth node is B max (N) is the maximum value, then the routing position of the submarine cable at the Nth node is longitude lon(T N ) and latitude lat(T N ), and the actual length L from this position to the first node satisfies the following formula: L = L0·(N-1) (2) Where L0 represents the distance between adjacent nodes; N ≥ 2; The sea area where the submarine cable is laid is scanned according to multiple survey lines, and the routing positions of multiple submarine cable nodes and the actual length of the submarine cable are obtained by processing the data received by the PC.

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