CABLED OBSERVATORY: THE OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE OPPORTUNITY

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Thomas Moore
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1 CABLED OBSERVATORY: THE OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE OPPORTUNITY Pete Barletto, Michael G. Kelly, Deborah Kelley, John R. Delaney, Brian Ittig, Cecile Durand (University of Washington) University of Washington 909 NE Boat Street, Seattle, WA Abstract: Cabled Observatories have many of the same Operations & Maintenance requirements as a commercial undersea cable; operations centers, backhaul, cable stations and wet plant. We are challenged to provide high availability services to our customers, the science community, at the lowest possible cost. What are the commonalities with commercial undersea cables and what opportunities exist for service providers? In the area of Operations, observatories are able to draw directly from commercial methodology. In fact, the Ocean Observing Initiative Regional Scale Nodes is drawing directly from the TeleManagement Forums, Telecom Operations Map (TOM) as a basis for building the processes and software for effective network management. Just as in a commercial system, we characterize operations into the components of network and services. In our case the services being the connectivity and subsequent data associated with science instruments located on the seafloor. As with any undersea system, maintenance is an important network availability issue as well as a significant cost driver. Observatories are more constrained by cost than time to repair. A consistent data series is of the utmost importance, the reality is a fixed budget without a supporting revenue stream. Wet maintenance for observatories is broken down into two categories, backbone and the science infrastructure. The backbone infrastructure is very similar to a telecom system, designed for a 25-year life and requiring a cable ship to maintain. Whereas the science infrastructure requires maintenance on a 1-5 year cycle and supported by a large research ship fitted with a remotely operated vehicle. Cabled observatories continue to be a growing market for the future. The question remains will this new generation of systems fit into the commercial Operations & Maintenance marketplace, and if so how? I think they do from both a revenue perspective, as well as the societal importance of their work. 1. Background Cabled Observatories The concept of utilizing submarine cables to bring scientific data from the oceans to shore side laboratories and researchers computers has been around for decades. The earliest opportunities were made possible when coaxial telecom cables were being retired (in place). The opportunity for long-term data collection was taken advantage of by a number of institutions, notably in the Pacific. Over time additional cable opportunities were exercised with a variety of results. One persistent challenge had been ongoing Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 1 of 5

funding, especially with regard to maintenance. More recently significant funding has been allocated to the implementation of cabled observatories.

2 funding, especially with regard to maintenance. More recently significant funding has been allocated to the implementation of cabled observatories. With the capital investments involved in these purpose built observatories, the operations and maintenance funding becomes critical to the protection of these investments. This does not mean O&M funding is completely adequate. Let s take a look at two recent projects in the Pacific that are now in service and providing the science community with valuable data. The Monterey Bay Accelerated Research System (MARS) consists of a 52-km (32- mile) undersea cable that carries data and power to a "science node" 891 meters (2,923 feet) below the surface of Monterey Bay. More than eight different science experiments can be attached to this main hub with eight nodes. Additional experiments can be daisy-chained to each node. MARS is located at latitude North 36 degrees minutes and longitude West 122 degrees minutes. Figure 1 MARS One of the goals of MARS is to provide a test bed for scientists and researchers to test and develop instruments and sensors for the ultimate use on parts of the Ocean Observing Initiative (OOI). The MARS Science Node has already provided valuable design and development input. In the MARS system the Science Node converts 10 kv from the shore station to a nominal 375 V available at the Nodes Science Ports. The Science Ports also provide 100 Mb/s Ethernet connectivity. During the implementation of MARS, there have been a number of lessons learned specifically related to O&M. Cableship repairs can be costly and take long periods to find and charter a vessel of opportunity. The intended maintenance philosophy and availability of assets must be taken into account as part of the system design. Another recent Pacific cabled observatory is the NEPTUNE Canada System. Building on telecom technology and developments exercised on MARS, NEPTUNE Canada is the largest cabled ocean observatory currently in service. The backbone of the system consists of telecom cable, repeaters, and branching units, which provide power and bandwidth to six science nodes. NEPTUNE Canada occupies the northern part of the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate and will provide considerable science data of a broad range of disciplines. mars.html Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 2 of 5

conference & convention Figure 2 NEPTUNE Canada http://neptunecanada.ca 2.

(RSN). RSN will add nearly 800 km of cable to the Northeast Pacific, also on the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate. RSN consists of two cables landing at Pacific City, Oregon.

Figure 3 RSN Overview The backbone, or Primary Infrastructure, part of RSN is designed for high reliability and availability.

3 conference & convention Figure 2 NEPTUNE Canada 2. OCEAN OBSERVING INITIATVE REGIONAL SCALE NODES Recently funded, the National Science Foundations (NSF) Ocean Observing Initiative (OOI) includes a cabled observatory called the Regional Scale Nodes (RSN). RSN will add nearly 800 km of cable to the Northeast Pacific, also on the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate. RSN consists of two cables landing at Pacific City, Oregon. Each cable has a design life of 25 years, can provide up to ~100 kw of power and as least 240 Gb/s of bandwidth. Figure 3 RSN Overview The backbone, or Primary Infrastructure, part of RSN is designed for high reliability and availability. It extends from the shore station equipment to the seven primary nodes and includes the telecom cable, repeaters, and nodes. RSN does not utilize branching units or high voltage wet mateable connectors. Each node is capable of 8 kw supplied to the science ports at 375 V. Science ports provide Gigabit Ethernet or 10 Gb/s Ethernet. Each Node also provides expansion ports with 10 kv and 10 Gb/s. The science, or Secondary Infrastructure, portion of RSN extends the system into the areas of interest to the science community and supports the instrument platforms and sensors. The Secondary Infrastructure consists of extension cables, junction boxes and Low Voltage Nodes. Figure 3 RSN Secondary Infrastructure RSN, as currently planned includes approximately 100 sensors of thirty different types. 3. CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS du/ The RSN design builds from the earlier work of MARS and NEPTUNE Canada with a number of differences. Copyright 2010 SubOptic The OOI as a program has agreed to adopt the concepts of the TeleManagement Forums, Telecom Operations Map (TOM) for the operation and management of the integrated observatory. In a simplified sense we start with the network as the base, building up to the services layer and finally the interaction with the customer. The services are the actual connections between the sensor and Internet distribution points, as well as the associated scientific data. Customers, or the user community, of the observatories are comprised of scientists, Page 3 of 5

4 teachers, students and the general public. Varying tiers of support will be provided based on the needs of each class of user. The Operations Center will coordinate the operation and maintenance activities of the RSN through a number of groups. The Technical Support Center will provide upper tier support for the resolution of technical issues, the Data Quality Center provides scientific validation of sensor data, and the Maintenance/Logistics Center provides spares management and repair capabilities. 4. CONNECTING TO THE USERS One of the significant values of cabled observatories is the long time series of data over large volumes of the ocean. The unrestricted availability of that data to anyone is also of significant value beyond the science community. Observatory requirements have been solicited and developed by and from the science community and have been used to generate the various system level engineering requirements such as reliability, availability and quality. For example RSN System Level requirements number nearly 300. Importantly, these requirements recognize the importance of reliable and consistent sensor data. The investment in funds and researchers time is significant and the reliability of cabled observatories will be key to their growth and utilization by users. 5. WET MAINTENANCE REQUIRMENTS AND STRATEGIES Observatories can be segmented into to primary and secondary infrastructure. The primary infrastructure is characterized as those portions of the network between the beach manhole and the primary nodes. This portion of the network consists of cable, repeaters and branching units of telecom standard, or similar physical characteristics. With the exception of the primary node itself, installation techniques follow standard telecom procedures for route planning/engineering, survey, shore end landing, burial and laying. The installation procedure of the primary node is similar to a branching unit, but with the added challenges of weight and size. The primary infrastructure is designed to be maintained by a cableship with work class rov. With exception of the primary node, maintenance is similar to any undersea cable currently within a maintenance agreement. Cables in water depth less than 1500 meters are buried using standard burial techniques. The secondary infrastructure is much more specialized, providing the ability to distribute electrical power and bandwidth at levels more appropriate for the various types of sensors and supporting equipment. It is designed to be serviced by a large oceangoing research ship with a science community remotely operated vehicle (rov). Many components of this portion of the network require regular servicing, with cruise durations of days in each years weather window. The life cycle maintenance of the secondary infrastructure is driven by the cost practicality of designing low voltage nodes and junction boxes to remain on the ocean floor for 25 years, existing sensor designs predicated on deployment periods limited to battery life, and biofouling. The synergies between the science and commercial worlds are most prevalent within the primary infrastructure, with common equipment and repair methodologies. A networks maintenance strategy is an important component of availability. Cabled observatories for basic science applications however are more constrained by cost than repair time, and thus a number of models have evolved. The models include playing the spot market when a fault occurs, a variant to the spot market where you obtain insurance to Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 4 of 5

Ocean sciences for the first time are unconstrained by electrical power and bandwidth connectivity, bringing a new era of exploration and discovery through new types of sensors capable of exploiting

5 cover the financial exposure of a repair, and the emerging desire to join existing commercial maintenance agreements. 6. FUTURE GROWTH Regional science systems are a steppingstone to what the future of cabled observatories may hold! Ocean sciences for the first time are unconstrained by electrical power and bandwidth connectivity, bringing a new era of exploration and discovery through new types of sensors capable of exploiting these parameters. These new networks with their unfettered ability to continuously capture data in spatial and temporal planes, will compliment the expeditionary mission of our research fleets. We see the day, where commercial cables have scientific monitoring capabilities, thereby leveraging this global coverage of the communication networks to monitor the world s oceans. From simple solutions such as hybrid branching units to the emerging technology of fiber embedded semiconductors, the technology is possible. This scientific telepresence will be expanded by using undersea cable to create seafloor hot spots where autonomous undersea vehicles can re-charge batteries, download data and receive new mission profiles, further expanding the geographic reach of our knowledge. Collaboration between industry and the science community can certainly make this a reality! Pacific, and many more being considered globally. The cable maintenance needs of cabled observatories appear to be quite compatible with telecom systems and current cable maintenance agreements. There are shared technologies, skill sets, spares, and ship requirements. While cabled observatories have high availability requirements there is recognition that commercial telecom systems might require a higher priority. At the same time, if cabled observatory owners are willing to accept a lower priority in exchange for lower costs their availability would still be superior as part of a cable maintenance agreement as opposed to reliance on ships of opportunity. Telecom cable owners would expect to benefit from lower costs as observatories share the standby expenses. 7. SUMMARY There are three new cabled observatories operating or planned for the Northeast Copyright 2010 SubOptic Page 5 of 5

PRELIMINARY INTERFACE REQUIREMENTS AGREEMENT

PRELIMINARY INTERFACE REQUIREMENTS AGREEMENT November 2007 DRAFT v2.3 Consortium for Ocean Leadership 1201 New York Avenue NW, Fourth Floor, Washington, D.C. 20005 www.joiscience.org Table of Contents