Call for Papers
Request for Abstracts & Guidelines for Submission
The SubOptic Program Committee is pleased to request industry experts to submit abstracts for papers or posters to be presented at SubOptic 2010.
Overview of Topics
The broad topic areas for SubOptic 2010 range from commercial to technical and are:
Global Markets & Geographical Markets
Special Markets (Oil & Gas, Scientific, Defence, etc)
Regulatory, Finance, Environmental & Legal
Project Development & Implementation
Marine Services & Marine Operations
System Design & Applications
Equipment & Component TechnologiesÂ
Further detailed breakdown of these topics is included below.
Deadline for Abstract Submission
The deadline for submission of abstracts is 15 September 2009 21 September 2009.
Format of Abstracts
Abstracts must be written in English, and consist of plain text only, not exceeding 300 words. Essentially the abstract should be a brief summary (or an 'executive summary') of the proposed paper or poster.
Evaluation Criteria
Each abstract should be original in nature, and cover some aspect of the program topics detailed in this Call for Papers. Abstracts will be evaluated and scored for quality, credibility, originality topical relevance, and general interest.
Overt product advertising or company publicity within an abstract (or the subsequent paper or poster) is not permissible, and will be cause for rejection of the abstract.
Abstract Submission Method
To submit an abstract for consideration, the primary author of the paper should go to 
, and then:
(a) Register the primary author to submit the abstract
(b) Designate the program topic from the seven topic areas described in this Call for Papers
(c) Select a preference for oral Presentation or Poster presentation
(d) Type or 'paste' the plain text abstract into the text box provided, and follow the remaining instructions on the web site.
Authors will receive automatic email notification when the status of their submitted abstract has changed.
The SubOptic 2010 Program Committee reserves the right to change the designated program topic for any abstract, as may be appropriate.
Notification of Acceptance
Under the guidance of the SubOptic 2010 Program Committee, multi- company panels of industry experts will review all papers in an objective and professional manner, and select the papers desired for presentation at the conference. Authors will be notified by email by 30 November 2009 of the committee's decision.
Publication in the Proceedings of SubOptic 2010
If an abstract is accepted for presentation, the author will be required to submit a three to five page paper, written in English, to the SubOptic 2010 Program Committee (via the website) by 31 January 2010.
Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, contingent upon the transfer of the copyright to the SubOptic 2010 Executive Committee.
Program Topics for SubOptic 2010
The detailed contents of each of the seven broad topic areas for SubOptic 2010 are as follows:
1. Global Markets & Geographical Markets
Undersea Horizons: our evolving market, enabling tomorrow's flatter world
Vice Chair: Elaine Stafford (David Ross Group):
This session will provide insights on a vast array of market related issues that drive and govern tomorrow's networks, and enable the next generation of telecommunication services. The spectrum of topics covered will include:
- network and capacity supply and demand
- capacity price erosion – how regional differences in competition and demand influence pricing
- the impact of today's global financial crisis on undersea market evolution, demand, and the supply and demand dynamics and the capacity prices
- mining hidden capacity of existing networks
- unique projects or models, with respect to their geography, politics, commercial structure, or ownership
- how new global service trends, such as mobile services and 3G, video services, entertainment, cloud computing, web-meetings, and convergence could shape undersea network architecture, design and demand
- weaving networks together to create global network solutions- complementary use of undersea, terrestrial, and satellite networks
- evolution of future private networks (schools & universities, libraries, medical hospitals, MNCs, etc) and their impact on global traffic and demand.
2. Special Markets
Niche Markets in a Vast Ocean: fueling the demand for deep water services
Vice Chair: Guy Arnos (WFN Strategies)
This topic will include relevant aspects of oil & gas platform cable and other offshore telecom cable business, scientific ocean floor monitoring, earthquake warning, tsunami warning, & weather monitoring & prediction etc by undersea cable; and defence applications of subsea cables. Topics in the area will include the following:
- Enabling the next generation of capabilities in offshore production
- Engineering and business requirements and challenges
- Network architectures
- Economic and user benefits
- Enabling new business and production practices - Enabling the next generation of undersea science:
- Engineering and funding requirements and challenges
- Network architectures
- Scientific benefits
- Enabling new science capabilities - Enabling the next generation of defense applications:
- Engineering and funding requirements and challenges
- Network architectures
- Strategic benefit
- Enabling new strategic and operational capabilities.
3. Regulatory, Finance, Environmental, & Legal
Origami & Paper Engineering: the management of contracts, permits & finance, enabling the development of the next generation of submarine cable networks
Vice Chair: Daniel Hughes (Apollo Cable System)
This session will provide insights on all issues related to the contractual, regulatory, finance, environmental and legal aspects of undersea optical cables. Under the broad topic areas below, prospective authors may wish to consider topics related to surveillance, freedom of information, copyright law, standards, contracts, IRU's, business models, taxes, insurance, international issues, & political issues:
- Business models for cable and network development worldwide
- Challenges to the submarine cable industry brought about by the global financial crisis: financing cables in uncertain times
- Understanding of the regulatory and permitting environment worldwide: balancing national and international requirements
- Strategies for the industry to work towards a more unified permitting environment
- How the law and regulations can aid the protection of submarine cable infrastructure
- The environmental aspects and impacts of the submarine cable industry
4. Project Development & Implementation
Network Development & Build: looking for the next generation in a century of tradition
Vice Chair: Leigh Frame (ASN / Alcatel-Lucent)
Companies have been developing and building network projects for over a century and a half. This session will look at key issues in the development and implementation of networks today and in the near future, and will try to provide answers to relevant questions such as the following:
- Is the consortium model still valid, or is the project financed network more appropriate ? Perhaps a hybrid of the two, or some new approach is best ?
- The first cables were privately financed, like the railways, but are submarine networks too high risk for banks these days ?
There is more than a century of custom and practice behind the construction of the networks, and this session will also explore whether project and construction management is a mature discipline or whether next generation networks need next generation implementation techniques. Specific topics of interest are:
- Project economics and funding
- Customer groupings and structures
- Getting a project off the ground; organisation, partners, forecasting, business cases, timelines, supplier selection methods, where to get the expertise, can the supplier be left alone...?
- Project management; customer and supplier aspects, old vs new techniques, best practice, different approaches in oil and gas, scientific communities, traditional operators. What's special about implementing a submarine system project.
- Managing the risk of a system construction. Identification of risks and mitigation through insurance, transfer of risk to the supplier/purchaser, pricing it, contract exclusions, etc
- Handover and long term support; acceptance criteria, short and long term support, commercial and design life mismatch - why 25 years?
- How turnkey should turnkey be? Inclusion of permits-in-principle in supplier contracts, O&M support, billing systems. Can a system integration be successfully undertaken by the operator/customer?
5. Marine Services & Marine Operations
Managing the Tsunami: marine operations & services protecting critical subsea assets & infrastructure
Vice Chair: Graham Evans (EGS Survey Group)
The need to protect critical submarine cable infrastructure from both the impact of human activity and hazards resulting from natural phenomena has been highlighted by severe service disruption to installed network infrastructure and potentially pose similar threats to next generation subsea networks. This session will encourage but not limit paper topics that address subsea asset and infrastructure protection, highlight challenges, and provide insight into innovative measures that mitigate risk. Topics will include:
- Causes and impact of submarine cable failures on network services
- Identification and mitigating of risk from human activities and natural hazards
- Route planning for secure submarine networks
- Optimising the scheduling and output from the route survey
- Emerging technologies for marine operations & services, including cable installation and protection
- Cable maintenance and repair solutions that provide optimised response times
- Commercially viable cable maintenance solutions for thin cable routes serving low population density communities
- The role of international cooperation in cable protection
- Legal and regulatory environment governing marine operational permits.
- New applications for existing marine technologies
- Reducing marine installation costs, reducing marine O&M maintenance costs, etc.
- The vessel market present & future
6. System Design & Applications
Creating Tomorrow's Foundation: system solutions & network topologies supporting next generation services
Vice Chair: Marsha Spalding (Tyco Telecommunications)
This session will cover a broad spectrum of new developments in both network topologies and transport layer designs of conventional telecommunications networks, as well as the system engineering and design aspects of special applications (including oil and gas, defence, earthquake & tsunami warning, and other niche markets or applications). Key topic areas include:
- Advances in providing more complex yet flexible connectivities to address evolving network topology needs
- Enhancements in switch aggregation and routing capabilities and features, providing a broad range of interface protocols, ranging from industry-standard SDH/SONET, to Ethernet, as well as higher data rates
- New transport layer technologies relating to transponders, amplifiers, and fiber, aimed at achieving higher capacities and faster data rates to ensure compatibility with tomorrow's next generation networks
- Techniques to expand existing networks, in terms of both geography and capacity
- System engineering & design for special network applications.
7. Equipment & Component Technologies
Technology Underpinnings: enabling components & technologies for the next generation of submarine networks
Vice Chair: Masuo Suyama (Fujitsu Limited)
This topic area will include all aspects of the equipment and component technologies for conventional telecommunications system as well as other applications such as oil & gas, ocean science, weather, earthquake & tsunami monitoring systems, etc. Key topics will include:
- Architecture and Technologies for the next generation of Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (LTE), to achieve:
- Higher Capacity for 10Gb/s based & 40Gb/s based systems
- Higher transmission speeds
- Longer Spans: Unrepeatered systems and repeatered systems - Components and Configurations to combat OSNR, Chromatic Dispersion (CD), and Polarisation Mode Dispersion (PMD)
- New Evolution of Submersible Equipment and Related Components for:
- Repeaters
- Branching Units (BU) (including passive, active and OADM configurations)
- Others for Ocean Science, Weather, Earthquake & Tsunami monitoring etc - Development of Other Equipment, including:
- C-OTDR
- Power Feeding Equipment
- etc
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