Technology Review of Cabled Ocean Observatories

Cabled ocean observatories (COOs) have enabled real-time in situ ocean observations for decades, thereby facilitating oceanic understanding and exploration. This review discusses typical COOs worldwide in terms of system configurations and state-of-the-art technology, including network structures, power supply modes, and communication capabilities, and provides a comprehensive analysis of their technical routes. The main characteristics of line, ring, star, and grid networks and their applicability in COOs are elucidated, and the advantages and disadvantages of various power supply modes, as well as the opportunities brought by the development of communication technologies, are described. The insights gained from these discussions can inform the implementation of grid structures, optimization of cable routings, expansion of COO scales, application of dual-conductor submarine cables, and upgrading of communication capacity. On this basis, the challenges and future research directions related to COOs are presented.