A multi-objective optimization for laying optical fiber cables

There have been many research publications on the topic of optical network survivability where the networks is modeled as a graph with a given topology composed of nodes and links. Such modeling does not enable the consideration and optimization of the shape of cables. One glaring example is the 2006 Hengchun earthquake that occurred on December 26 near the south coast of Taiwan and caused catastrophic disruption to Internet services in many Asian countries. This catastrophe was caused as a result of damage to several undersea cables that were located all close to each other in an earthquake prone area. Clearly it makes sense for cables to avoid earthquake prone areas and if it is not possible, they should be kept away from each other in such areas to avoid simultaneous destruction of multitude of cables. Research conducted in 2005 in ETH, Switzerland, has shown that a week of Internet shutdown, in a country like Switzerland, will cost over 1% of its GDP.