Nautilus: A Framework for Cross-Layer Cartography of Submarine Cables and IP Links

Abstract

Submarine cables constitute the backbone of the Internet. However, these critical infrastructure components are vulnerable to several natural and man-made threats, and during failures, are difficult to repair in remote oceans. In spite of their crucial role, we have a limited understanding of the impact of submarine cable failures on global connectivity, particularly on the higher layers of the Internet. In this paper, we present Nautilus, a framework for cross-layer cartography of submarine cables and IP links. Using a corpus of public datasets and Internet cartographic techniques, Nautilus identifies IP links that are likely traversing submarine cables and maps them to one or more potential cables. Nautilus also gives each IP to cable assignment a prediction score that reflects the confidence in the mapping. Nautilus generates a mapping for 3.05 million and 1.43 million IPv4 and IPv6 links, respectively, spanning 91% of all active cables. In the absence of ground truth data, we validate Nautilus mapping using three techniques: analyzing past cable failures, using targeted traceroute measurements, and comparing with public network maps of two operators.