Global Deep Ocean Sensor Network on Submarine Cables

This paper describes the implementation and analysis of a deep ocean sensor network that utilizes existing, retired, or new telecommunication submarine cables as hosts to sensor nodes. Due to telecom sub-cable high installation costs, quality of service, and 25-year lifetime requirements, addition of instrumentation nodes must have essentially no impact on system reliability, capacity or availability. A sensor node on a sub-cable system offers several distinguishing advantages over regional cabled observatories and buoys because of its ability to collect real time data over a long period of time in regions of the ocean previously not instrumented, while using the cable as a source of power and a path for communication. The system can potentially provide a source of additional revenue to the telecom provider or additional functionality to cabled oil platforms.