Evaluating Continuous End-to-End Communication at Sea with Multi-Hop MANET Routing, Using AIS Data

Abstract

The marine sector has unique and challenging problems supporting high bandwidth, low-latency internet connectivity, often unavailable or only avail able through satellite services. Multi-hop manets that utilise low-cost com modity hardware potentially offer a cost-effective solution compared to satellite services but come with their own limitations. This thesis is motivated by the need for reliable and affordable communication at sea, especially in areas where satellite coverage is compromised by geographical features, high traffic, or downtime. By studying a fleet of more than 14,500 boats spread across Norway’s eez using ais positional data from the nca, it aims to assess the viability of sanet as an alternative to satellite communication systems for maritime vessels operating within the eez. This thesis proposes Aktan: a novel simulator that facilitates connectivity anal ysis of this fleet by modelling it as a graph. It does not extend to hardware specifications or physical-level simulation. Aktan uses a combination of tabular, key-value storage, and vantage point trees to support date-based graph queries. Results from this analysis provide insights into the practical considerations of sanet deployment in the eez, contributing to the broader discourse on improving maritime communication systems. We identify challenges in imple menting and deploying an overlay manet in this region while identifying key geographical areas of interest. It is shown that connectivity is low overall and has temporal dependencies. We identify key areas of interest for deploying infrastructure to support multi-hop manets in this region. The study shows that manets alone will not be viable in this region without improvements in fleet management, infrastructure placement, technological breakthroughs, or combining technologies.