Electric power supply device, light device, and method for supplying electric power

Abstract

In an electric power supply device, the supply voltage changes due to a change in the supplied electric current, and thus stable operation of the load becomes difficult. Therefore, an electric power supply device according to the present invention comprises: a constant voltage generation means that receives a supply of a first branch electric current that is included in a supply electric current, and generates a constant voltage; a first control means through which flows a second branch electric current that is included in the supply electric current; and a second control means through which flows a third branch electric current that is included in the supply electric current, wherein the second control means controls the third branch electric current such that the sum of the second branch electric current and the third branch electric current becomes constant.

Description

Power supply device, optical device, and power supply method

[0001] The present invention relates to a power supply device, an optical device, and a power supply method, and more particularly to a power supply device, an optical device, and a power supply method used in an optical submarine cable system.

[0002] Optical submarine cable systems that connect continents with optical fibers play an important role as infrastructure supporting international communication networks. An optical submarine cable system is composed of submarine cables that accommodate optical fibers, submarine repeaters equipped with optical amplifiers, submarine branching devices that branch optical signals, and terminal equipment installed at landing stations. An example of an optical repeater used in such an optical submarine cable system is described in Patent Document 1.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-298419

[0004] As optical submarine cable systems become more sophisticated, it is essential to improve the functionality of submarine optical equipment such as submarine repeaters and submarine branching units. This requires that the functional circuits in the submarine optical equipment be made more sophisticated, which in turn requires a stable power supply voltage.

[0005] The configuration of a related power supply device used in an undersea optical device is shown in Figure 4. The related power supply device 10 has a Zener diode 11 as a constant voltage diode and a load control circuit 12 that controls a load device 20. A system current I0, which is a supply current from a power supply device installed at a landing station, is supplied to the related power supply device 10. The system current I0 is branched into a branch current I1 that flows through the Zener diode 11 and a branch current I2 that flows through the load control circuit 12. A constant voltage is supplied to the load device 20 by the branch current I1 that flows through the Zener diode 11.

[0006] Figure 5 shows the current-voltage characteristics of the Zener diode 11. As shown in Figure 5, due to the inherent characteristics of Zener diodes, the current increases and becomes a constant voltage after reaching the Zener voltage. However, because there is a slope in the current-voltage characteristics, a slight change in current at the operating point will result in a change in voltage. Therefore, if the branch current I1 flowing through the Zener diode 11 changes for some reason, the Zener voltage will change, causing a change in the power supply voltage of the load device 20, such as an undersea optical device. As a result, the characteristics of the undersea optical device will fluctuate.

[0007] As described above, in a power supply device, the power supply voltage changes with a change in the supplied current, which makes it difficult to ensure stable operation of the load device.

[0008] In view of the above-mentioned problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a power supply device, an optical device, and a power supply method that solve the problem that it is difficult to ensure stable operation of a load device in a power supply device because the power supply voltage changes with changes in the supplied current.

[0009] The power supply device of the present invention comprises a constant voltage generating means for generating a constant voltage by receiving a first branch current contained in the supply current, a first control means through which a second branch current contained in the supply current flows, and a second control means through which a third branch current contained in the supply current flows, and the second control means controls the third branch current so that the sum of the second branch current and the third branch current is constant.

[0010] The power supply method of the present invention branches a supply current into a first branch current, a second branch current, and a third branch current, generates a constant voltage using the first branch current, and controls the third branch current so that the sum of the second branch current and the third branch current is constant.

[0011] According to the power supply device, optical device, and power supply method of the present invention, the power supply voltage can be kept stable, and stable operation of the load device can be achieved.

[0012] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a power supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an optical device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a power supply method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a related power supply device. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the current-voltage characteristics of a Zener diode provided in the related power supply device.

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a power supply device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The power supply device 100 has a constant voltage generating section (constant voltage generating means) 110, a first control section (first control means) 120, and a second control section (second control means) 130. The power supply device 100 is preferably used in submarine optical devices such as submarine repeaters and submarine branching units that constitute an optical submarine cable system.

[0015] The constant voltage generating unit 110 receives a first branch current I11 contained in the supply current I10 and generates a constant voltage. A second branch current I12 contained in the supply current I10 flows through the first control unit 120. A third branch current I13 contained in the supply current I10 flows through the second control unit 130. The second control unit 130 controls the third branch current I13 so that the sum of the second branch current I12 and the third branch current I13 is constant.

[0016] As described above, the power supply device 100 according to this embodiment is configured such that the second control unit 130 controls the third branch current I13 so that the sum of the second branch current I12 and the third branch current I13 is constant. This makes it possible to control fluctuations in the first branch current I11 supplied to the constant voltage generating unit 110 and maintain the first branch current I11 constant. As a result, the power supply device 100 according to this embodiment can maintain a stable power supply voltage and achieve stable operation of the load device.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 1, the power supply device 100 can be configured such that the first control unit 120 and the second control unit 130 are each connected in parallel to the constant voltage generating unit 110 .

[0018] The constant voltage generating unit 110 may include a constant voltage diode. Typically, a Zener diode may be used as the constant voltage diode. The first control unit 120 may be configured to control the load device 200 that operates using the constant voltage generated by the constant voltage generating unit 110.

[0019] The supply current I10 is, for example, a system current supplied from a power supply device installed at a landing station via a power cable. Even if fluctuations occur in this system current, the power supply device 100 according to this embodiment can maintain a stable power supply voltage, thereby enabling more stable operation of the load device 200, such as an undersea optical device.

[0020] 2 shows the configuration of an optical device equipped with the above-described power supply device. The optical device 1000 has a power supply device 1100 and a load device 1200. The figure shows a case where a Zener diode is used as the constant voltage generating unit 110. The optical device 1000 is, for example, a submarine optical device such as a submarine repeater or a submarine branching device.

[0021] Here, the load device 1200 may be configured to include an optical amplifier device. For example, the load device 1200 may include a control circuit for an optical amplifier, various functional modules, and the like.

[0022] Next, the power supply method according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0023] In the power supply method according to this embodiment, first, a supply current is branched into a first branch current, a second branch current, and a third branch current (step S110). Next, a constant voltage is generated by the first branch current (step S120). Then, the third branch current is controlled so that the sum of the second branch current and the third branch current is constant (step S130).

[0024] As described above, the power supply method according to the present embodiment is configured to control the third branch current so that the sum of the second branch current and the third branch current is constant. Therefore, it is possible to control fluctuations in the first branch current for generating a constant voltage and keep the first branch current constant. As a result, the power supply method according to the present embodiment can keep the power supply voltage stable, thereby realizing stable operation of the load device.

[0025] The power supply method according to the present embodiment can be configured to further include driving a load device with the constant voltage described above.

[0026] As described above, the power supply device 100, the optical device 1000, and the power supply method of this embodiment can keep the power supply voltage stable, and can achieve stable operation of the load device.

[0027] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various modifications that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

[0028] 100, 1100 Power supply device 110 Constant voltage generating unit 120 First control unit 130 Second control unit 200, 1200, 20 Load device 1000 Optical device 10 Associated power supply device 11 Zener diode 12 Load control circuit

Claims

1. a constant voltage generating means for generating a constant voltage by receiving a first branch current included in a supply current; a first control means through which a second branch current included in the supply current flows; and a second control means through which a third branch current included in the supply current flows, The second control means controls the third branch current so that a sum of the second branch current and the third branch current is constant. power supply.

2. The first control means and the second control means are each connected in parallel to the constant voltage generating means.

2. The power supply device according to claim 1.

3. The constant voltage generating means includes a constant voltage diode.

3. A power supply device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The first control means controls a load device that operates on the constant voltage.

3. A power supply device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. A power supply device according to claim 4; The load device. light device.

6. The load device includes an optical amplifier device.

6. An optical device according to claim 5.

7. A supply current is branched into a first branch current, a second branch current, and a third branch current; generating a constant voltage from the first branch current; The third branch current is controlled so that the sum of the second branch current and the third branch current is constant. Power supply method.

8. The method further comprises driving a load device with the constant voltage.

8. The power supply method according to claim 7.