Monitoring the submarine cable network
Build an automated system for monitoring the deployment of submarine cables through large-scale passive and active measurements.
The underlying physical infrastructure of the Internet includes a mesh of submarine cables, generally shared by network operators who purchase capacity from the cable owners. As of 2021, more than 400 submarine cables are deployed worldwide. Over half of them were deployed after 2004 and further 36 new cables are scheduled to be ready for service in the following three years [1]. Cable capacity has also increased over time [2]. The newer cables have brought a significant increase in capacity. Cables deployed ca. 2000 have a median capacity of 480 Gbps, whereas those deployed in 2016 have a median capacity of 23.9 Tbps.
Failure in the undersea cable infrastructure can result in simultaneous failures in IP connections. Despite the scale and critical role of the submarine network for both business and society at large, understanding the role of the submarine network has been largely treated as a black box in terms of Internet reliability and performance.
Goal
Build an automated system to monitor the submarine cable network through collecting passive and active measurements.
Learning outcome
- Better understanding of IP routing and Internet architecture
- You will get an opportunity to run a real-world large experiment
Qualifications
- General understanding of IP networks
- Programming skills
Supervisors
- Ioana Alexandrina Livadariu
References
[1] www.submarinecablemap.com/
[2] cablemap.info/_default.aspx
