Design and Test Bed Experiment of Graph-Based Maintenance Management System for Yokohama Zone Undersea Cable Protection

Abstract

The number of incidents involving disconnections and damages of undersea cables caused by ships’ anchors, fishing nets, sudden current changes or other heavy objects thrown overboard has increased recently around the waters of the Republic of Korea. To deal with this situation, the Korean government and its affiliated organizations are providing GPS-assisted alarm units which inform the coordinates of the cables, their routes, and other relevant information, in addition to operating the surveillance ships regularly. Despite such efforts, the number has not decreased widely. Thus, in this paper, we are introducing a Graphic-based Maintenance System developed by the SUNCOM Co. (a venture company) and delivered to KT (Korea Telecom). The system assists in maintaining and managing the undersea cables and its application uses C++ and Visual Basic. Through field tests, the systems have been proven to be effective and efficient in preventing many accidents that could have been caused by human errors and reducing the social and monetary costs involving restoration works and business disruptions.