System Specification

1.0

Revision: Draft 2

Scope of this Document

Source: These categories were initially developed for application in the defence sector.
The technical requirements for the System will be documented through a series of
specifications. This document, the System Specification (Type A) defines the System
functional baseline and includes the results from the user requirements, feasibility
analysis (4), operational requirements and the maintenance concept, top-level functional
analysis, and identifies the critical technical performance measures (TPMs) and design
dependent parameters (DDPs).
This System Specification leads into the following subordinate specifications covering the
subsystems, configuration items, equipment, software and other components of the
System.
1. System Specification (type A) includes the technical, performance, operational
and support characteristics for the System as an entity. It includes the allocation
of requirements of functional areas, and it defines the various functional-area
interfaces. The information derived from the feasibility analysis, operational
requirements, maintenance concept, and the functional analysis is covered. It is
written in "performance-related" terms, and describes design requirements in
terms of the "whats" (i.e., the functions that the system is to perform and the
associated metrics).
2. Subsystem Specifications (non-COTS) (type B)-include the technical requirements
for those items below the System level where research, design, and development
are required. One Subsystem Specification shall be prepared for each subsystem
design. Each Subsystem Specification shall cover equipment items, assemblies,
computer programs, facilities, and so on. Each specification shall include the
performance, effectiveness, and support characteristics that are required in the
evolving of design from the system level and down.
3. COTS Subsystem Specifications (type C)-include the technical requirements for
those items below the top System level that can be procured "off the shelf." The
COTS Subsystem Specifications shall cover standard system components
(equipment, assemblies, units, cables), specific computer programs, and so on.
Each COTS Subsystem Specification shall detail any differences in environment,
operation, maintenance or handling for use of the product as part of the System as
opposed to the products design service.
4. Process Specifications (type D)-include the technical requirements that cover a
service that is performed on any component of the System (e.g., machining
bending, welding, plating, heat treating, sanding, marking, packing, and
processing).
5. Material Specifications (type E)-include the technical requirements that pertain to
raw materials, mixtures (e.g., oils, metals, paints, chemical compounds), or
semifabricated materials (e.g., electrical cable, piping) that are used in the
fabrication of a subsystem.
This System Specification (type A) provides the technical baseline for the system as an
entity.

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2.0

Definitions (see System Definitions)

3.0

Applicable Documents
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]

IEEE Guide to Software Requirements Specification, IEEE Std. 830 - 1984

Information Management Issues Facing Ocean Observatories, Notes from an
Informal NEPTUNE Workshop, April 12-13, 2001,
http://www.neptune.washington.edu/pub/techno/IM.html
Incorporated Research Institutions for Seisomology (IRIS),
http://www.iris.washington/.edu/HQ/iris.html
Real-Time, Long-Term Ocean & Earth Studies at the Scale Of a Tectonic Plate,
NEPTUNE Feasibility Study, National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP),
June 2000, http://www.neptune.washington.edu/pub/documents/hiqual_feas_study/hi-res_whole.pdf
NEPTUNE White Paper, September 2000,
http://www.ocean.washington.edu/neptune/pub/white_paper/tabconts.html
Visual Modeling with Rational Rose and UML, Terry Quatrani, Addison-Wesley, 1998
Lt. Dewain Emrich, Formation Oceanographer, Operations Support Centre Pacific,
personal communication
Real-Time, Long-Term Ocean & Earth Studies at the Scale Of a Tectonic Plate,
Oceanography Volume 13 No.2/2000
NEPTUNE Data Management and Archiving System, Design Requirements, Draft
Version 01, 21 January 2001.
Real-Time, Long-Term Ocean and Earth Studies at the Scale of a Tectonic Plate,
Ocean Hemisphere Network Project/International Ocean Network Joint Symposium,
January 2001.
Conceptual Design and Options Considered for a Cabled Seafloor Observatory Data
Network, Issue 0.2 (PRELIMINARY DRAFT) 4 April 2002, NEPTUNE Communications
Design Team, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
email from George Fox of JPL dated 24 May 2002 to Dave Rodgers, Harold Kirkham
and Peter Phibbs.
NEPTUNE Out-of-Band Control and Time Distribution by Alan Chave, Andy Maffei
and Al Bradley, 12 Dec 2001
NEPTUNE Desktop Study, Fugro Seafloor Surveys, 13 February 2002

4.0

Requirements

4.1

System Definition

4.1.1

General Description
Source: 4 page iv
The System, consisting of fiber-optic/power cable and nodes on the seafloor, will
provide large amounts of power (kilowatts) and communications links
(gigabits/second) at distributed nodes. Connected to these nodes will be sensors
and sensor networks, some of which constitute community experiments while
others are developed and/or used by individual investigators. Extension cables will
allow instruments to be located remote from the nodes. ROVs and AUVs will
provide mobile platforms. An information management system and archive stores,
indexes, and provides metadata metadata for all the data to enable the linkages
and connections between the various processes to be accessed by an extended
community of scientists, students, and the public.

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4.1.2

Operational Requirements

4.1.2.1

Need
Source 10 page i
Traditional expeditionary science has characterized some portion of an ocean or
planet within the constraints of data collection from a ship. Such visits are
inadequate to fully evaluate the suite of models and testable hypotheses that have
grown out of this exploratory work.
Ocean scientists now stand on the threshold of a scientific revolution, a paradigm
shift made possible by advances in computational sophistication, communication
and power technologies, robotic systems, and sensor design. The ability to enter,
sense, and interact with the total ocean environment for extended periods is within
our grasp. It is time to expand beyond short-term expeditions using research
vessels; it is time to move toward a long-term presence on, above, and below a
section of seafloor as large as a tectonic plate.

4.1.2.2

Mission
Source: 4 page iii
The vision for Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) is to provide a sustained
national system for observations of the ocean with outputs that are easily
accessible for creating forecasts and products essential to the nations economy,
the management of marine resources, public health and safety, and national
security.
The vision of NEPTUNE (which is part of IOOS) is to provide a new Internet-linked
platform for integrated earth and ocean sciences at the scale of an entire tectonic
plate using a network of submarine fiber-optic/power cables to support multiple in
situ sensor arrays and robotic laboratories for real-time remote inter-action with
dynamic processes on, above, and below the seafloor.

4.1.2.3

Life Cycle
Source: 4 page 32
The useful life of the NEPTUNE infrastructure is at least 30 years with 24-hour-perday availability once operational.
In this context the NEPTUNE infrastructure means the submerged cable and the
housings for the submerged plant.

4.1.3

Functional Analysis and System Definition

(Source this document)
The System shall perform the following functions:
Reliably transmit data from a series of scientific instruments, generally located on
or around the Juan de Fuca plate, to Shore Stations. (the Data)
Reliably transmit instructions from the Shore Stations to the scientific instruments.
(the Instructions)
Permit direct experiment to experiment communications
Reliably transmit power from the Shore Station to the scientific instruments.

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Process and archive the Data and instructions and environmental data (e.g. power
status)for future use.
Allow Priveledged Users to issue the Instructions from remote sites.
Allow Priveledged Users to review real-time or archived data from remote sites
Permit plug and play for a wide variety of instruments
4.1.4

Maintenance Concept
(Source this document)
Branching Units and Backbone cable maintained by a conventional cable ship
Nodes maintained by a UNOLS vessel
Node maintenance by cutting out existing failed or diminished node and returning
to a shore-based facility for refurbishment, (unless it can be demonstrated that it is
feasible, with no significant loss of performance, to maintain nodes on board a
vessel without cutting cable), and by splicing on a new or refurbished node.
Parts support by supplier, or from stock purchased at time of construction.

4.1.5

Allocation of Requirements
The following subdivisions based on areas of expertise have been identified:
(Source 4 Section 3 + this document)
These allocation descriptions outline, in general terms, the scope of each
subdivision. Every part of the System is included in one of these subdivisions, but
not in more than one. It is anticipated that the parties responsible for each
subdivision will use these descriptions as a guide to prepare a more detailed and
specific description based on their subsystems requirements and implementation.
Power System including the System power supply from the public utility to the
Node Science Connectors, power supplies to all other subsystems, grounding,
electrodes, fault isolation, power monitoring, control and fault finding and reporting
of Power System status to the Observatory Management System.
Data Communications System (DCS) including data transmission between the
Submarine Line Terminal Equipment to the Node Science Connectors, data
transmission between Nodes, the communication requirements of the DCS system
and the other subsystems, DCS monitoring, control and fault finding and reporting
of DCS status to the Observatory Management System.
Timing Distribution including collection of the Timing signal at the Shore Station,
distribution of the timing signal as required in the shore Station, receipt and
distribution of the timing signal at each Node and reporting of Timing Distribution
status to the Observatory Management System.
Observatory Management System (OMS) including collection and presentation of
the data showing the status of other subsystems, the System operator interface,
protection of the System from potentially hazardous commands, automatic
adjustment of the system functions as conditions and observations change, manual
control of individual system elements and the transmission of system status data to
DMAS.
Data Management and Archiving System (DMAS) - including the infrastructure
needed to accept the data flow from the Scientific Instruments via the DCS and

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System status data from the OMS, and to route the data in near real-time to
interested subscribers via the Terrestrial Backhaul, the interfaces needed to control
Scientific Instruments connected to NEPTUNE, a long-term secure data archive for
NEPTUNE, the user interfaces needed to make the data usefully accessible to the
ocean sciences community and reporting of DMAS status to the Observatory
Management System.
Submerged cable and submerged cable terminations - including all cable that is not
in a pressure casing offshore from the closest manhole inshore of the cable landing
(the beach manhole), all cable between the Shore Station and the Beach Manhole,
all submerged cable terminations, splices, bulkhead penetrators, connectors and
dumb branching units.
Submerged Plant (housings, packaging and heat transfer) including all pressure
casings (except those pressure casings specifically included as Submerged cable
and submerged cable terminations), deployment frames, connector supports and
associated deployment and recovery equipment.
Science Instrument Interface and Extension Cables including all equipment
offshore of the Node Science Connectors, except those items specifically included
as Submerged cable and submerged cable terminations and Submerged Plant
(housings, packaging and heat transfer), and specifically including number of
conductors and fibers in any cable, any SII cards that may be required, and any
communications and power control and delivery issues that may come from the use
of Extension Cables.
Marine including marine route survey, cable Route engineering, shore landing
work between the Beach Manhole and start of ploughing, cable armor selection,
Submerged Cable and Submerged Plant installation equipment and procedure and
Submerged Plant operations and maintenance.
Shore Station including building construction or modification, HVAC, lighting and
building facilities, and including construction of cable support facilities between the
Shore Station and the Beach Manhole.
Shore Station LAN/WAN and Terrestrial Backhaul including provision of
communications between DMAS and the Internet, communications between Shore
Stations (SLTE to SLTE), and communications between geographically separate
DMAS and Shore Stations (if applicable).
Permitting including permitting and any other work associated with Rights of Way,
leases, licenses and property rights for the Submerged Cable, the Shore Stations
and the Terrestrial Backhaul.
4.1.6

Functional Interfaces and Criteria

See Attached tables

4.2

System Characteristics
These characteristics describe the functions that the system shall perform in order
to allow a user to achieve the user requirements. The System characteristics shall
be defined as follows:
1. Each characteristic is unambiguous
2. Each characteristic is complete, and the complete set of characteristics
describes all functionality required from the system.

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3. The correct implementation of the characteristic is verifiable in a practical and

affordable way.
4. Each characteristic is self-consistent, and is consistent with the other
characteristics of the system.
5. The characteristic is easily modifiable. This implies the characteristics are well
organized and contain a minimum level of redundancy.
6. The characteristic is traceable. This implies the origin of the characteristic is
clearly identified, and the characteristic can be identified in all documents that are
based on these characteristics.
7. Usable during the operations and maintenance phase of the software life cycle.
4.2.1

Performance Characteristics
Definition of the basic operating characteristics of the system (rate, capacity, throughput,
power output etc.).

SPE1

Average and peak power delivery1 to the Node Science Connectors for a particular
node (shall not be less than 3.3 kW and 9.3 kW, respectively. (Source 4 page 30)

SPE2

Peak total of all power delivered to the Node Science Connectors at any one time
for the entire system: 100 kW. (Source 4 page 30)

SPE3

Power delivery2 to the user shall be at two voltage levels: 48 V DCand 400 V DC.
(Source 4 page 40)

SPE4

1.3 kW of 48V DC power shall be available to the Node Science Connectorsat each
node. (Source Power Group)

SPE5

Average and peak data rate for a particular node: 100 Mb/s and 1
Gb/s,respectively. (Source 4 page 30)

SPE6

Peak data rate for the entire system: 10 Gb/s, sum of total data landed at the
Shore Stations in any given second. (Source 4 page 30).

SPE7

Time Information shall be provided at each node with 1sec accuracy, corrected for
latency. (Source (discussion) 4 Section 3.5, 13 page 2.).

SPE8

The System shall include Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receivers and Timing
Distribution Shelves at both Shore Stations to provide a 2 Mb/s timing output in
accordance with the requirements of ITU-T Recommendation G.811. The Timing
Distribution Shelves shall be expandable to a minimum of 10 x 2 Mb/s timing
outputs. (Source this document)

SPE9

The System shall support the entire range of instruments from those instruments
that produce data at very low data rates and will require a minimum of user
interaction (for example setting sampling rates), to other instruments, such as
tethered bottom rovers with HDTV, video cameras and manipulators that create up
to 20Mb/s of data on a continuous basis and will require extensive user interaction
involving closed loop control. Source: [4] (p.46)

SPE10

All submersible plant shall be qualified for an external working pressure of

3500msw. Source 14 Table 2.1.3.

(Source 4 page 30) proposed Average and peak power delivery for a particular node of 2kW and 20kW
respectively. These goals have been modified and further defined based on estimates of node efficiency
and modelling of the network power system.
2

(Source 4 page 40) proposed 240V and 48V as the voltage levels. As the design of the converter has
progressed, the voltage level of 240V has been raised to 400V.
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SPE11

The maximum time from reception at the Shore Station to re-transmission to a

user shall be kept to a minimum. The DMAS subsystem design group is to prepare
a table of datatype & priority, vs allowed latency, for review and inclusion into this
document. Source: [4] (p.46)

SPE12

The archive shall be designed to handle up to n requests for data per day, and to
deliver up to nn Gigabytes of data per day to archive users. All data shall be
accessible via the internet. Source 9 page 27

SPE13

The DMAS shall be designed to support up to TBD simultaneous real-time data

consumers. Source 9 page 27

SPE14

The archive shall be designed to handle an initial data rate of 280 Terabytes per
year. Source 9 page 27

SPE15

All shore-station equipment including Power Feed Equipment, Submarine Line

Terminal Equipment, Line Monitoring Equipment, Network Protection Equipment,
and Timing distribution Equipment shall be operable off a single uninterruptible
power supply . Source this document .

SPE16

Observatory Management equipment and DMAS equipment shall operate using the
mains supply voltage available at each station and shall be connected to Shore
Station uninterruptible power supplies as appropriate. Source this document

SPE17

Terrestrial network segments shall provide standard transport meeting interface

requirements, and shall meet other such requirements TBD. Source this document

SPE18

Terrestrial network segments shall provide one 2 Mb/s overhead channel for use by
the Network Protection Equipment for each OC48 channel or equivalent carried on
the terrestrial network. Source this document

SPE19

The terrestrial network segments shall be capable of indicating a fault, alarm, or

service interruption (including Loss of Frame, Loss of Signal, AIS, AMS, and signal
degradation) to the OMS by means of a laser shutdown of the affected channel(s).
Source this document

SPE20

The submerged cable shall be capable of conducting electrical power to submerged

equipment placed at appropriate intervals along it. The part of the cable conducting
electrical power shall be electrically insulated from the surroundings. The electrical
insulation for any and all such cables, whether single or multiple conductors, shall
be capable of meeting the withstand capabilities defined in the relevant test plan.
Source this document

SPE21

Performance of the communication system between the node and the shore Station
at End of Life (EOL) shall meet or exceed the requirements of ITU-T
Recommendation G.826 for Errored Second Ratio, Severely Errored Second Ratio
and Background Block Error Ratio. Source this document

SPE22

The end-of-life performance margin for all submerged Segments shall be stated in
terms of the Q factor. The end-of-life performance margins shall be no less than
0.50 dB. The designers shall use all reasonable endeavours to ensure an end-oflife performance margin of no less than 1.0 dB. In the case where the end-of-life
performance margin is less than 1.0 dB (but greater than or equal to 0.50 dB), the
designer shall provide a detailed description and analysis of how the end-of-life
performance is assured. Performance budgets shall include allowances for
anticipated repairs resulting from intrinsic (internal system) faults and extrinsic
(external) faults. Source this document

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SPE23

When the Power Feeding Equipment (PFE) is switched from double-end feeding to
single-end feeding or from in-service equipment to redundant equipment in a
controlled manner and vice versa, no severely errored seconds shall occur. Source
this document

SPE24

When the Power Feeding Equipment (PFE) is switched from double-end feeding to
single-end feeding in an uncontrolled manner, e.g. in the case of a power feed fault
or emergency shutdown, a maximum of two severely errored seconds shall occur.
Such errors shall be included in the error allocation when assessing Segment
performance (ITU-T Recommendation G.826). Source this document

SPE25

The Shore Station Power supply shall be able to be switched from feeding from the
local grid to backup power and vice versa without resulting in any severely errored
seconds. Source this document

SPE26

When the local grid powering a Shore Station fails, the transfer of the Shore
Station Power from feeding from the local grid to generator power and vice versa
shall be automatic. Source this document

SPE27

If the power system design requires both a primary and secondary backup power
source to meet the reliability requirements, then in the event that the primary
backup power source in the Shore Station fails to come on line, the secondary
source shall start to come on line automatically. Source this document

SPE28

The Shore Station back-up power supply shall be designed such that the System,
when powered from the backup power supply, meets or exceeds the reliability
goals. Source this document

SPE29

If the power system design requires both a primary and secondary backup power
source to meet the reliability requirements, it shall be designed such that no
severely errored seconds shall occur in the event that both the power grid and the
primary backup system fail at once. Source this document

SPE30

All Shore Station equipment shall operate normally under the following conditions:
Source this document
Temperature: 0 to 40C
Relative Humidity: up to 95% Non-Condensing
Note: the nominal environmental conditions of the Shore Stations is 25C
and 50% RH.

SPE31

In the event of a loss of one Shore Station, the System shall be capable of routeing
all Data to the remaining Shore Station.

SPE32

The maximum time delay between reception of Data at a Node Science Connector
to the delivery of that data to the SLTE in the Shore Station shall be less than n
milliseconds.

SPE33

The variance in delivery of sequential packets (jitter) from a NEPTUNE node to a

Shore Station shall not exceed 2 milliseconds. (Source: [15], (p17)

SPE34

Serial instrument communications must be transparently supported (Source: [4]

(p. 46)

4.2.2

Physical Characteristics
Definition of the basic physical characteristics of the system size, weight, shape,
boundaries etc.

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SPH1

The System shall be capable of providing data connectivity for potentially

thousands of undersea scientific instruments distributed at 30 or more
geographically separated observatory nodes to data processing equipment located
on the Internet. (Source 11 page 4).

SPH2

The System shall include terrestrial network segments or capacity inland from the
Shore Stations or between Shore Stations. (Source This Document).

SPH3

The terrestrial network segments shall be in-ground fiber where available. Fiber
characteristics TBA Source this document

SPH4

The Shore Stations shall provide a suitable environment for the installation and
operation of the subsea cable terminal equipment, power feed equipment, line
monitoring equipment, those parts of the DMAS that are located there and the
environmental monitoring system. Source this document

SPH5

All equipment in the Shore Stations and installation practices for that equipment
shall conform to the highest level of earthquake protection (e.g. North American
Zone 4) encountered at any station. Source this document

SPH6

All Shore Station equipment and DMAS equipment shall be suitable for installation
in a standard central office environment. Source this document

SPH7

The submerged cables, cable joints and terminations shall protect the fibers against
pressure, abrasion, excessive elongation, chemical reaction, and water penetration
so that the System performance requirements can be met throughout the design
life of the System. Source this document

SPH8

Submerged plant housings, penetrations and cable terminations shall be designed

to function continuously without maintenance for the System life. . Source this
document

SPH9

Submerged plant housings, penetrations and cable terminations shall be designed

to allow installation, operation, recovery and re-linstallation of submersible plant in
depths up to the design depth with no degradation in mechanical, electrical and
optical performance. Source this document

SPH10

The tensile and torsional strengths of the submerged plant housings shall be a
minimum of two times greater than that of the highest strength cable. Source this
document

SPH11

The reliability of components in submerged plant requires a controlled ambient

internal atmosphere. Over the system life the relative humidity of the atmosphere
over the operating temperature range shall be controlled to 20% by means such as
the introduction of appropriate quantities of hydrogen getters and moisture
absorbing desiccants. The resulting controlled internal atmosphere shall be suitable
for maintaining the life expectations of all internal components. Source this
document

SPH12

All bulkheads and gland assemblies which act as the submerged plant housing
sealing system shall prevent water and gas ingress to the internal unit , both
directly from the surrounding sea and from axial cable leakage due to a cable break
close to the housing. Source this document

SPH13

The submerged plant shall be tolerant of the mechanical shock and vibration levels
shown below, which have long been accepted as the appropriate levels for
submerged equipment. Source this document/submarine telecom specs.

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Bump/Shock

ACTIVITY

Severity

Duration

(g)

(ms)

TRANSPORT (1)

Appears as LF Vibrations

SHIPBOARD (1)

< 25

1 to 10

Vibration
Number

Random

Freq. Range

Severity

Duration

(Hz)

(g)

(Minutes)

1 to 50

< 0.5

Random

1 to 12

< 0.1

Continuous

Handling and Laying

Qualification
Testing performed
Components

50

4002 (2)

10-150

1.0

90 (3)

Housed Units

40

1002 (4)

Notes:
1.

Maximum levels recorded during transportation, shipboard handling, laying and recovery including transit through linear cable engine.

2.

Comprised of 167 bumps in 6 directions.

3.

Comprised of 30 minutes in 3 directions.

4.

Comprised of 667 bumps in 6 directions.

SPH14

The cables shall be able to withstand the abrasive forces associated with
manufacture, deployment, rough or non-flat bottoms, and repair without
degradation in optical, mechanical or electrical performance. Source this document

SPH15

Cable type selection shall take into consideration known threats to the cable,
seabed conditions, burial requirements, environmental hazards, external hazards,
the Cable Selection Criteria, and other system requirements. Source this document

SPH16

Cable route engineering shall minimize conflict between the cable and other seabed
users. Source this document

SPH17

The submerged cable shall be buried in the seabed where possible to water depth
2000m. Source this document

SPH18

Submerged plant shall be adequately protected from damage from fishing gear
where located in less than 2000msw. Source this document

SPH19

The backbone cable shall be routed to avoid significant seabed hazards and
hazardous features. Source this document

SPH20

The System design shall give scientists various options for placement of
instruments at sites of scientific interest, even though those sites may be up to
50km from the backbone. Options shall include varying distances and power and
data rates, up to and including a full node capability 50km from the backbone.
Source this document

SPH21

The burial of submerged plant including Nodes and branching units shall not result
in detriment to the Node performance or reliability. Source this document

SPH22

Submerged plant shall be designed to operate with a temperature of 5C at the

outside of the pressure housing. Source this document

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Effectiveness Requirements
Requirements that speak to the effectiveness of the System in performing its functions,
given that the System will perform.

SEF1

The System shall be completed at a cost not to exceed the project budget. Source
This document

SEF2

The System shall be completed within the period allowed in the project Plan of
work. Source This document

SEF3

The System shall be capable of preventing unauthorized personnel from accessing

its resources and research data. (Source 11 page 4).

SEF4

The System shall be capable of protecting data collected by individual investigators

so that it can be kept private (according to funding agency guidelines). (Source 11
page 4).

SEF5

The engineering infrastructure shall be capable of reconfiguring itself automatically

fast enough to suppress fault propagation and to accommodate the acquisition of
science data that are event driven, e.g. a seafloor volcanic eruption. (Source 4
page 33).

SEF6

In order to avoid corruption of scientific data, all submerged plant shall be designed
to eliminate noise, such as acoustic or electromagnetic noise. Where noise is
unavoidable, it shall be tightly controlled and defined such that it can be identified
and filtered. For instance all timing signals in a node shall be synchronized.
Source This document and Maripro.

SEF7

There shall be defined standards for packaging and transmitting data from sensors
to Shore Stations and all interface requirements for experiment designers. Source:
[4] (p.62)

SEF8

Software Supplier shall commit to providing open, fully documented interfaces

between all network management and power management components and
between network management systems and external systems. Source: This
Document

SEF9

Supplier shall commit to providing all necessary support and documentation

required to make use of network management interfaces. Source: This Document

SEF10

The data archive shall preserve both the raw data originating from NEPTUNE
instruments, and the meta-data describing these data. Source: [4] (p.56)

SEF11

The DMAS shall support an event, feature and pattern detection processing, and
shall allow the detected events, features, and patterns to be stored in the archive.
Source: [4] (p.64)

SEF12

Certain maritime agencies may require that System instruments be shut down for
short periods of time. This could include both shutting down specific instruments in
a specified area at a specific time, and random shutdowns of instruments. The
System shall support such shut-downs, whether controlled by NEPTUNE operations
staff, or by somebody external to NEPTUNE. The System shall be able to confirm
that instruments are not gathering data during shut-downs. Source: [7]

SEF13

Since the DMAS hardware and software systems may not have the capacity to
handle unlimited public access to non-proprietary NEPTUNE data, the System shall
have the ability to protect itself by limiting public access to data when necessary by
prioritizing Public Users Source: 9 page 22

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SEF14

The DMAS shall be able to accept real-time data from external sources that may
not be available from NEPTUNE data (for example wind speed, wave height, etc.),
but are available from other data sources. The DMAS shall be able to accept data
from these other sources, and incorporate the data into the NEPTUNE data flow.
Source 9 page 23

SEF15

The NEPTUNE archive shall attribute user-generated data to the Privileged User
who generated the data. However detailed verification of user submitted data is
impractical, and therefore the user submitting the data shall be responsible for the
quality of the data. Source 9 page 25

SEF16

Meta-data shall be included with all data stored in the archive and users may select
which metadata to retrieve. Source 9 page 26

SEF17

The DMAS shall accommodate extracting statistics and/or events from data files,
and storing them in a searchable form in the catalogues. Source 9 page 26

SEF18

In order to provide single stop shopping, data stored in external archives which is
complementary to the data in the NEPTUNE archive shall be available through the
NEPTUNE archive. This might include data collected by nearby weather buoys,
satellite images, etc. Source 9 page 26

SEF19

The System shall be designed such that proprietary data files and all System and
instrument functions shall not be accessible without appropriate privileges. .
Source 9 page 28

SEF20

Data stored in the archive shall undergo QC/QA analysis, and the results shall be
stored in the archive catalogues. Source: [4] (p.33, p.62)

SEF21

Fiber type selection shall take into account management of chromatic dispersion
throughout the system and the impact of the proposed fiber configuration on
system operations and maintenance. Source this document

SEF22

The Supervisory System shall be capable of monitoring critical parameters that

indicate the performance of each Node and give early indication of performance
degradation. The information obtained shall be accessible to both Shore Stations.
Source this document

SEF23

The Supervisory System shall permit measurements to be made in-service

throughout the life of the System without degradation of any System performance
parameters. Source this document

SEF24

Subsystem Design teams shall provide a schedule of DC, critical AC, and noncritical AC loads for each Shore Station showing power requirements for the initial
and ultimate System capacity. Source this document

SEF25

All power feeding equipment shall be demonstrated to minimize the risk of failure
of System power. Source this document

SEF26

Power feeding equipment at all stations shall be fully duplicated and include a
dummy load. Source this document

SEF27

The Power Feeding Equipment (PFE) shall comprise the equipment for converting
the Shore Stations power supply into the form required to power the undersea
Segments. The PFE shall be interconnected with the undersea cable to feed power
to the undersea Nodes and branching units. Source this document

SEF28

The Power Feeding Equipment (PFE) of each Shore Station shall have sufficient
redundancy such that the Segment meets the overall reliability requirements
specified in this specification. In case of PFE failure in one Shore Station, the PFE in

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the other Shore Station shall be capable of automatically feeding the System
without operator intervention. Source this document
SEF29

Indication shall be provided both on the Shore Station Equipment and Observatory
Management System to clearly show which parts of the equipment are working and
which are on stand-by or off-line. Source this document

SEF30

Submarine Line Terminating Equipment (SLTE) shall provide conversion of signals

from the observatory management system and DMAS to a format suitable for
transmission over the submarine line and shall convert signals received from the
submarine line to a standard interface level. Source this document

SEF31

Network Management Systems shall provide fault, configuration, performance, and

security management at local, and global levels. Source this document

SEF32

The submarine cable System shall include network management systems consisting
of:
Local Craft Terminals
Element Management Systems
Network Management Systems
Data Communications Network Source this document

SEF33

Local craft terminals shall allow fault, configuration, performance, and security
management of a single network element at a local level. Source this document

SEF34

Element Management Systems (EMS) shall provide fault, configuration,

performance and security management on a continuous basis at a local or regional
level. Element managers shall be provisioned at each Cable Landing Station or as
required to provide complete supervision of all network elements in the submarine
cable system. Element management systems shall provide an interface to the
Network Management Systems. Source this document

SEF35

The Observatory Management System (OMS) shall provide fault, configuration,

performance and security management on a continuous basis at a regional and
global level. Network managers shall be provisioned at Shore Stations and at two
additional locations to be specified. The OMS shall provide end-end path
monitoring, as well as end to end fault and performance management. The OMS
shall manage all System components including SLTE, PFE, and LME. Source this
document

SEF36

The Observatory Management System shall provide real time and historical
reporting of alarm, performance, and configuration data. The OMS shall allow
generation of alarm, performance, and configuration reports in predefined and ad
hoc formats. Source this document

SEF37

The Shore Station LAN/WAN and Terrestrial Backhaul shall consist of local and wide
area networks supporting the Internet Protocol (IP) and any other protocols
necessary for operation of the network management systems. Local area networks
shall be Category 5 twisted pair cables running 100 Base-T Ethernet. Wide area
connectivity shall be provided by means of overhead channels on the SLTE. The
Terrestrial Backhaul shall include all necessary hubs, routers, and switches to
provide complete connectivity between all components of the System. The
Terrestrial Backhaul shall be designed such that no Shore Station is isolated from
the other Shore Station or from the DMAS in the event of a cable break or other
fault. The Terrestrial Backhaul shall include sufficient router ports to allow a

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backup connection between each Cable Landing Station and the DMAS over a
leased line, dial-up facility, or frame relay service. Source this document
SEF38

All network management system components shall be fully duplicated and

redundant. All network management system components shall be designed so that
a fault or failure does not affect the transmission performance of the system.
Source this document

SEF39

Each Network Element Manager or Observatory Manager shall provide one interface
which reports alarm and performance monitoring data to an external system. The
exact format of this interface shall be agreed between the Purchaser and Supplier
prior to implementation. At a minimum, exchange of ASCII text via TCP/IP shall be
supported. Source this document

SEF40

The OMS shall provide an overall Northbound interface to an upper level service
management system via an Object Management Group Common Object Request
Broker Architecture 3.0 (OMG CORBA 3.0) or higher compliant interface. Source
this document

SEF41

It shall be possible to access all Network Element Managers and Observatory

Managers via a suitably equipped remote terminal or other external system and
perform all alarm, performance, and configuration management functions,
including monitoring of the submerged plant, in the same manner as if the Network
Element Manager or Observatory Manager were accessed directly. Security
management functions and root level operating system access shall not be
available from remote terminals. Source this document

SEF42

The line monitoring equipment shall enable the status of the submerged plant to be
monitored. Source this document

SEF43

The line monitoring equipment shall be able to be controlled from either Shore
Station (conflict resolution required). Source this document

SEF44

The Line Monitoring Equipment shall be visible to the Observatory Management

System and DMAS. Source this document

SEF45

The Line Monitoring Equipment shall carry out its in-service measurements without
affecting traffic. Source this document

SEF46

The Line Monitoring Equipment shall autonomously monitor the Segments in

service and be able to detect any degradation in the submerged plant components.
Source this document

SEF47

The Line Monitoring Equipment shall localize faults in the submersible plant to
between two Nodes by means of any active fiber in the cable. This requirement
shall be met from the Shore Stations. Source this document

SEF48

The design shall allow for phased growth and funding of NEPTUNE

SEF49

The Terrestrial Backhaul will be compatible with both Internet-2 and CANARIE for
external connectivity to the Internet.

SEF50

Voltage limit shall be adjustable plus/minus 10%

SEF51

Current limit shall be adjustable down to 1 A.

SEF52

Shore stations shall be capable of coordinating power outputs in order to achieve

system-wide goals, such as minimizing operating costs

SEF53

The system shall not be restricted to a particular direction of power flow in any
segment

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SEF54

Nodes shall be capable of receiving power from any MV input cable

SEF55

Nodes shall normally connect incoming power to any MV cable at the node

SEF56

The system shall be capable of continued operation (with isolation of the fault if
necessary) despite one fault to ground in the submerged plant.

SEF57

The break in service when a fault to ground is experienced in the Submerged Plant
shall not exceed ????seconds?? except for those Nodes directly adjacent to the
fault, and any nodes isolated by the fault.

SEF58

Cable or node faults shall not cause damage to connected equipment.

4.2.4

Reliability
The reliability goals that shall be met to allow the System to perform effectively.

SRE1

Reliability is key to low operation costs and user satisfaction. (Source 4 page 32)

SRE2

Cable faults caused by external aggression on the submerged plant are currently
estimated to reduce availability from 1 to >0.99 and will be further studied in
Phase 2. (Source 4 page 33)

SRE3

Faults caused by external aggression on the submerged plant are the only
exclusions from calculation of System reliability. (Source this document).

SRE4

Fault Tolerance the observatory has a goal of providing a sufficient number of

alternative data paths so that in the case of any single fault (other than a cable
break) no connectivity will be lost. (Source 11 page 4).

SRE5

The System reliability for submerged and dry plant shall be provided, along with
the calculation methodology. (Source this document).

SRE6

The reliability of submerged plant shall be based on a temperature of 5C at the

outside of the pressure case. (Source this document).

SRE7

The level of unavailable time stated shall include all contributions due to
maintenance of submerged plant and Shore Station equipment, internal causes,
and those requiring action from the terminal stations or Network Management
Systems. (Source this document).

SRE8

NEPTUNE Reliability Requirement (Source 12 page 1).

1.1. The NEPTUNE system shall have a better than 95% probability of
meeting all functional requirements for at least 95% of the time over a
one year period.
1.2. The NEPTUNE system shall have a better than 95% probability of
meeting Limited Availability or greater requirements for at least 99% of
the time over a one year period.
1.3. A single NEPTUNE node shall have a better than 95% probability of
meeting all functional requirements for at least 99.9% of the time over
a one year period.

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1.4.

The probability of System Failure in any one year shall be less

than 0.1%

1.5.

A single NEPTUNE Shore Station shall have a better than 95%

probability of meeting all System power requirements for at least
99.9995% of the time over a one year period. (2.5
minutes/year). In the event that the PFE has to be shut down

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for maintenance, any shutdown period shall be included as

downtime in the reliability calculation.
SRE9

The System shall include buffers at the Shore Station to avoid data loss. The Shore
Stations shall be capable of buffering sufficient days of data such that the System
will have a better than 95% probability of delivering to the archive 99.9% of the
data and metadata that arrives at the Shore Station. Source (with discussion): [4]
(p.62)

SRE10

The System shall be designed to manage resources so as to avoid overloading

subsystems such as power and communications. It shall be able to prioritize
activities to fit within the available power and System bandwidth. Source: [9]
(p.24)

SRE11

System components shall incorporate protection from lightning strikes, surges,

magnetic storms, over currents, over voltages, stray voltages or other similar
effects. Source: This Document

SRE12

Failure of a laser or any other equipment specific to a particular fiber or pair of

fibers in a Node shall not produce failure or significant performance degradation on
another laser and shall affect only one fiber pair. Source: This Document

SRE13

Failure of any part of the Supervisory System shall not lead to failure or impairment
in the main transmission paths. Source: This Document

4.2.5

Maintainability
Given that no system is 100% reliable, define the design requirements that will allow the
System to be maintained while still being effective.

SMA1

The System shall include the ability to locate both shunt faults (conductor faults to
ground), open circuits and fiber faults to within 1km without underwater
intervention. (Source this document)

SMA2

The submerged plant, including science experiments, shall be designed to facilitate

routine servicing of instruments using research vessels rather than commercial
cable ships. (Source 4 page 33).

SMA3

The probability that all maintenance necessary to meet or exceed the reliability
goals each year can be done during the annual 30 day Scheduled System
Maintenance Period shall be better than 95%. (Source 12 page 1).

SMA4

The System shall be designed such that installation, support and recovery of the
Science Instruments can be undertaken using a Class 1 oceanographic vessel for
90 days per year, including mob/demob, during the fair weather season of May
October, with ROV support. (Source 4 Section 8.3 and Appendix A)

SMA5

The System shall be designed such that replacement of nodes requiring

maintenance can be undertaken using a Class 1 oceanographic vessel for 30 days
per year, including mob/demob, during the fair weather season of May October,
with ROV support. (Source 4 Section 8.3 and Appendix A)

SMA6

The System shall be designed such that there shall be no part of the submerged
plant that could not be recovered, respliced and redeployed by an UNOLS ship, or,
failing that, by a conventional cable ship. (Source (discussion) 4 Section 8.3 and
Appendix A)

SMA7

All cable types as selected and laid along the route shall be capable of being
recovered and reused provided that (i) the Short term tension acceptable (NTTS)
value of the cable type as specified by the manufacturer has not been exceeded

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during the recovery operation and (ii) the operations used to recover the cable are
undertaken in accordance with the Suppliers approved repair procedures. Source
this document
SMA8

The cables shall be of such design and dimensions that they can be handled by
standard cableship equipment without any modification. Source this document

SMA9

The Submerged Plant including Nodes and Branching Units shall be of such design
and dimensions that they can be handled by standard cableship equipment without
any modification Source this document

SMA10

Appropriate alarms shall be indicated on the Shore Station terminal equipment, end
of suite display and the network management equipment. Source this document

SMA11

The alarms provided in the Shore Stations shall allow relevant aspects of the
equipment and the traffic signals to be monitored. Source this document

SMA12

The alarms shall be categorized into a minimum of two categories: prompt and
deferred alarms. Source this document

SMA13

The alarm System shall allow independent acknowledgment of an alarm condition

at the Shore Station. Source this document

SMA14

A method shall be provided on the Submarine Line Terminal Equipment to allow

performance and operation to be measured and a logical fault finding strategy to
be followed. Source this document

4.2.6

Usability (Human Factors)

Qualitative and Quantitative requirements pertaining to the human users of the System

SUS1

The User interface shall be as user friendly and as transparent as possible,

particularly for new user populations. Source: [2]

SUS2

The science experiments supported by NEPTUNE can be subdivided into two

classes: those for long-term, community wide science, and those proposed and
developed by Privileged Users. The System shall support both of these types of
experiments and users. Source: [4] (p.32)

SUS3

All community experiment data are available to the public in near real time (after
any necessary automatic quality control). Data from PI experiments are handled
per sponsor policy. . (Source 4 page 33).

SUS4

DMAS shall be able to routinely generate and make easily accessible derived
information products in addition to the scientific raw data products specified by the
research community. These products shall support both public outreach activities,
and commercial use of NEPTUNE data. Source: [4] (p.70)

SUS5

Data management and archiving may be distributed, though to any user it will
appear to be concentrated at a single point. (Source 4 page 33).

SUS6

The DMAS subsystem shall be able to grant privileges to certain Priveledged Users,
for specific periods of time. These privileges shall include one or more of the
following:
Access to proprietary data from a specific list of instruments, for a specific
period of time.
The ability to control specific instruments or groups of instruments.
The ability to contribute processed data and catalogue information to the
NEPTUNE archive. Source: 9 page 22

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SUS7

The System shall accommodate event driven data acquisition, and shall be capable
of detecting events in real-time data streams (including video) and automatically
reconfiguring the system in response to events. Typical responses might include
increasing sample rates for related data, activating additional observing sequences,
etc. Source: [4] (p.33, 64)

SUS8

Priveledged Users shall be able to access a real-time data flow and real-time
instrument status from any instrument. Source 9 page 23

SUS9

The DMAS shall have an API that allows other NEPTUNE systems to retrieve DMAS
status, and to control NEPTUNE instruments. The purpose of this interface is to
allow an observatory control system to monitor the health and state of the DMAS,
and to allow other systems to send command like shut down all instruments on
node x. The details of the interface are TBD. Source 9 page 23

SUS10

The processing time from when a data request is first received, until the user is
notified that data are ready to be retrieved shall be less that n hours plus m
minutes per megabyte of data requested. Any time needed for data processing
shall be in addition to this time. Source 9 p 25

SUS11

The System shall include a mechanism for Privileged Users to submit files such as
processed data files and catalogue files to the archive. The data shall be
catalogued, and available to other archive users. Source 9 page 25

SUS12

The NEPTUNE archive shall include a search engine to allow authorized users to
access groups of records.

SUS13

The System will support sensor meta-data to be updated based on in-situ

calibrations, new scaling factors or other changes. Updated meta-data will be
recorded by DMAS and appended to all subsequent archived data

4.2.7

Supportability
Defines the inherent characteristics of design and installation that enable the effective and
efficient operation, maintenance and support of the System throughout its planned life cycle.

SSU1

COTS products are preferred to the greatest extent practical. Source: [4] (p.33)

SSU2

The System design, manufacture and installation shall be in accordance with

applicable international standards. (Source 11 page 5)

SSU3

Where applicable ITU-T, ISO, IEC, IETF, OIF, TMF, IEEE, FCC, CE and UL standards
or recommendations exist, these shall be used in preference to other standards or
recommendations. (Source 11 page 5)

SSU4

National and other standards shall only be used with the prior permission. (Source
this document)

SSU5

All testing activities are to conform to the requirements of the appropriate

standards noted above. (Source this document)

SSU6

The archive shall store and deliver data in standard formats. Where possible
existing formats will be used. Source: [4] (p56, 65)

SSU7

The System shall include a long-term archive of selected data produced by

NEPTUNE. Practical considerations will prevent the archiving all data. For example,
some video data will have to be discarded, and it may not be necessary to archive
data that is sent to other archive centres (i.e. seismic data). NEPTUNE policy shall
determine which data will be archived. Source 9, page 25

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SSU8

System operations - The System operations associated with the backbone

infrastructure shall be designed to run automatically. The System shall be designed
such that operational requirements such as sensor deployment and recovery,
varying power and bandwidth requirements, can be managed by 6 full-time
NEPTUNE personnel with support providing coverage 8 hours per day, 7 days per
week. (Source 4 Section 8.3 and Appendix A).

SSU9

Data management and archiving The DMAS system shall be designed such that
QC/QA of community experiment data, caring for NEPTUNE-specific data, routing
particular kinds of data to other data centers (such as IRIS for seismic data), and
assisting scientists performing data mining can be performed by four and a half
full time technical staff with support. (Source 4 Section 8.3 and Appendix A)

SSU10

The System shall be designed such that a dedicated support group of 4 full-time
technical staff can maintain the sensor networks, install community experiments,
and assist on Priveledged User experiments if required. (Source 4 Section 8.3 and
Appendix A)

SSU11

The System shall be designed such that a dedicated support group of 3 full-time
technical staff can return and repair the nodes recovered each year ready for
deployment the following year. (Source 4 Section 8.3 and Appendix A)

SSU12

The observatory shall be capable of being operated and managed from a remote
site connected to the Internet. . (Source 11 page 5).

SSU13

The System shall be designed and spares shall be provided so that any Node can
be refurbished or replaced during the System life. All design improvements shall
be backward compatible. (Source This Document)

SSU14

The System shall include sufficient spares, or a contract to provide sufficient

spares, to refurbish any submerged plant including Nodes and Branching Units
during the system life

SSU15

Nodes and Branching Units shall employ mechanical and electrical designs proven
by a history of similar use or by an appropriate testing program. (Source This
Document)

SSU16

Design of all submerged plant including Nodes and Branching Units shall include the
installation and recoverability parameters including recovery rates and allowable
loads vs sea states. (Source This Document)

SSU17

Design documentation shall include details of the optical design of the Nodes,
including pump laser configuration, optical gain and noise figure, optical bandwidth,
optical gain equalization, and monitoring or loopback paths. (Source This
Document)

SSU18

The Submarine Line Terminal Equipment shall provide Supervisory access to the
submerged plant. (Source This Document)

SSU19

Data transport shall be digitally transparent in all respects (Source This

Document)

SSU20

Each fiber or wavelength shall continue to function within its specified performance
in the event of connection or disconnection of any impedance or digital signal on
any other fiber or wavelength input or output ports. (Source This Document)

SSU21

The removal of a fiber or wavelength unit card or GBIC in any transmission path
shall not affect other fibers or wavelengths. (Source This Document)

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SSU22

The System shall allow for provision of operating statistics dataflow, data access,
number of users, equipment performance stats etc

SSU23

The Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) shall collect performance

monitoring information required to assess the segment performance in accordance
with ITU-T Recommendation G.826 including Errored Seconds, Severely Errored
Seconds, and Unavailable Seconds. (Source This Document)

SSU24

The Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE) shall collect performance

monitoring information required to assess segment operation and performance
margin, including the line error rate and estimated Q value. (Source This
Document)

SSU25

All performance monitoring parameters shall be able to be monitored by the

Observatory Management System. (Source This Document)

4.2.8

Transportability/Mobility

STR1

System components such as Nodes shall be transportable by road using

conventional trucks. (Source This Document)

4.2.9

Flexibility
Defines design requirements to allow flexibility of operation and future change

SFL1

The System shall provide a plug and play capability, allowing new instruments
and new types of instruments to be incorporated into the System in such a manner
that ongoing experiments are not interrupted. Source: [4] (p.33)

SFL2

The System shall be adaptable to evolving technologies. Source: [4] (p.33)

SFL3

The System shall be capable of planned and unplanned extension after its initial
deployment. Source: [4] (p.36)

SFL4

Node Upgradeability the Nodes shall be capable of being upgraded incrementally

to newer System and power technologies if they prove appropriate. (Source 11
page 4).

SFL5

The DMAS shall be designed to scale up, if future growth of the System extent, or
instrumentation increases the data rates beyond the predictions. Source 9 page 27

SFL6

Submarine Line Terminal Equipment capacity upgrades shall be made without

causing outages on the in-service data traffic. (Source This Document)

4.3

Design and Construction

4.3.1

CAD/CAM Requirements

4.3.2

Materials, Processes, and Parts

4.3.3

Mounting and Labelling

4.3.4

Electromagnetic Radiation

4.3.5

Safety

SSA1

Adequate safeguards shall be used in all equipment to prevent personnel from

accessing hazardous voltages, laser light sources and other potentially hazardous
situations. These shall include interlocks, alarms, warning notices and clear
statements in documentation. Source this document.

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SSA2

The Supplier shall place special emphasis on safety issues during all training
courses. Source this document.

SSA3

As a minimum, the equipment shall conform to the latest issue of the following
international standards: IEC 60825 Safety of Laser Products; IEC 60950 Safety of
Information Technology Equipment. Source this document

SSA4

The System shall be designed to allow node maintenance and repair operations to
meet the applicable safety codes, particularly with respect to power protocols.

SSA5

The System shall be designed to allow installation operations to meet all applicable
safety codes.

SSA6

The system shall meet applicable requirements for maintenance and safety in
terms of lockouts of the power system.

4.3.6

Interchangeability

4.3.7

Workmanship

4.3.8

Testability

4.3.9

Economic Feasibility

4.4

Documentation/Data

DD1.

The Supplier shall submit a complete description of the documentation to be

furnished as part of the Contract. Source this document

DD2.

Documentation shall be provided in the English language. Source this document.

DD3.

All measurements and numerical values are in accordance with the SI units. Source
this document

DD4.

All final documentation shall be supplied as two sets of paper copies in the English
language and 5 inch CD-ROMS containing the English documentation. Source this
document.

DD5.

Electronic files of all documentation shall be provided in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)

format, or other format as agreed by the Purchaser. Source this document.

DD6.

All provisional documents, documents for review, and documents containing data to
which the Purchaser may reasonably require access (such as route position lists,
floor plans, etc.) shall be provided in the native file format. Source this document.

DD7.

All documents shall be issued in accordance with a document control system which
complies with the requirements of ISO 9001. Source this document

4.5

Logistics

4.5.1

Maintenance Requirements

LMR1

The System shall include all necessary spares, specialized tools and equipment, and
consumable items required over the commercial life of the system. Source this
document.

LMR2

Spares shall include, but not be limited to, spare cable, spare Nodes, spare
branching units, and Shore Station equipment spares. Source this document.

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4.5.2

Supply Support

4.5.3

Test and Support Equipment

LTS1

Test and support equipment shall include those items developed and manufactured
by the Supplier specifically for carrying out tests that are unique to the submarine
System (e.g. Node test benches). Source this document.

LTS2

The System shall include test and support equipment selected from a list of
recommended test and support equipment prepared by subsystem design groups
and available from third parties. Source this document.

4.5.4

Personnel and Training

LPT1

The Supplier shall plan and deliver all the necessary training for the Purchasers
personnel so that such personnel will be capable of independently carrying out
engineering, cable jointing, installation, testing, commissioning, acceptance,
provisioning and maintenance of the System in a competent and efficient manner.
Source this document.

LPT2

The Supplier shall offer the following training: Source this document
a.

Functional Overview (Type A): One session per station

b.

Dry Plant Operations (Type B1): One session per station

c.

Wet Plant Operations and Powering (Type B2): One session per station

d.

OMS Operations (Type B3-NOC): One session per station

e.

Remote Operating Position (Type B3-ROP): One session per station

f.

Shipboard Cable Jointing (Type C): Optional

g.

Land Cable Jointing (Type D): Optional

LPT3

The Supplier shall provide a description of each type of training and shall indicate
the maximum number of students in each session. Source this document.

LPT4

Training shall be conducted in the English Language. Source this document.

4.5.5

Facilities and Equipment

4.5.6

Packaging, Handling, Storage, and Transportation

4.5.7

Computer Resources (Software)

4.5.8

Technical Data

4.5.9

User Services

4.6

Producibility

4.7

Installability

INS1.

The Submerged plant from the beach to 1500msw shall as much as possible be
suitable for installation using a conventional cable plough.

INS2.

The Submerged plant from 1500msw to 2000msw shall as much as possible be

suitable for installation using a conventional cable burial ROV.

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INS3.

The System shall be designed such that the submerged plant can be powered and
tested during installation, so that any installation related faults can be recovered
and repaired by the installation vessel..

4.8

Disposability

4.9

Affordability

5.0

Test and Evaluation

TE1

All subsystem design groups shall carry out programs of Prototype Acceptance
Testing (PAT) to demonstrate that all land based and submerged components meet
the design parameters, performance criteria, and quality standards established by
the Designers engineering and design activities. The Designer shall demonstrate
that the design parameters, performance criteria, and quality standards for each
component or assembly are consistent with these overall performance
requirements. Source: This Document

TE2

Qualification of submersible plant shall include testing complete housing with

penetrations and terminations to 1.5x working pressure Source: This Document

TE3

All Suppliers shall, with reasonable prior notice, give full and free access to all
locations relating to the Work (including all offices and production facilities for the
Work or the Equipment of the Supplier), for the purposes of evaluating the
Suppliers Quality Assurance System and confirming the Suppliers adherence to
that system. Source: This Document

TE4

All equipment that forms part of the System shall undergo programs of Factory
Acceptance Testing (FAT) to demonstrate that all land based and submerged
components meet the design parameters, performance criteria, and quality
standards established by the Suppliers engineering and design activities. It shall
be demonstrated to the Purchasers satisfaction that the design parameters,
performance criteria, and quality standards for each component or assembly are
consistent with these overall performance requirements. Source: This Document

TE5

A program of System Assembly and Test shall be carried out to demonstrate that
assembled blocks of cable, Nodes, and other submerged components meet the
design parameters, performance criteria, and quality standards established by the
engineering and design activities. It shall be demonstrated that the design
parameters, performance criteria, and quality standards for the block assemblies
are consistent with these overall performance requirements. Source: This
Document

TE6

Following the completion of installation of the Shore Station equipment, a program

of In-Station Testing shall be carried out to demonstrate that installed land-based
equipment meets the design parameters, performance criteria, and quality
standards established by the engineering and design activities and that the
performance of this equipment is consistent with the performance measured during
FAT. It shall be demonstrated that the design parameters, performance criteria,
and quality standards for each component or assembly are consistent with these
overall performance requirements. Source: This Document

TE7

Following the completion of each Segment, a program of Segment Commissioning

shall be carried out to demonstrate that Segment performance meets the
requirements. Source: This Document

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TE8

Following the completion of the submerged plant, a program of Final

Commissioning shall be carried out to demonstrate that System performance meets
the requirements. Source: This Document

6.0

Quality Assurance Provisions

Source this document

QAP1

Suppliers, manufacturers, contractors and subcontractors shall be certified to ISO

9000 in all areas of their organizations relevant to the design, manufacture,
installation and commissioning of the System. The Suppliers, manufacturers,
contractors and subcontractors shall provide controlled copies of their Quality
Manuals to show compliance with all elements of ISO 9000 at the highest level.

QAP2
QAP3

All components proposed for the System shall be fit for intended application and
reasonable evidence shall be presented to demonstrate this fitness including the
relevant qualification test reports and any new qualification tests for the equipment
identified in the project program.

QAP4

Qualification tests performed on any new equipment shall be conducted in

accordance with a qualification test specification.

QAP5

All equipment used in qualification tests, factory tests, installation and

commissioning tests shall be in calibration, and the relevant calibration certificates
shall be available for inspection.

QAP6

Contractors and subcontractors shall demonstrate compliance with ISO 9000- 3,

Guidelines for the application of ISO 9001 to the Development, Supply and
Maintenance of Software, providing documentation for any new software
development.

QAP7

Suppliers, contractors and subcontractors shall provide notification before

implementation of any product changes, design changes (modifications) etc.,
affecting form, fit, function, safety and reliability.

QAP8

The Supplier, contractors and subcontractors shall employ reasonable efforts to

become compliant with the TL 9000 standard. This standard will replace ISO 9000
for telecommunication suppliers.

7.0

Accessibility and User Service

8.0

Education and Outreach

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