Multimodal Network Architecture for Shared Situational Awareness amongst Vessels

Area of Science:

• Maritime Technology
• Network Architecture
• Industry 4.0

Background:

• Maritime Industry 4.0 requires shared situational awareness (SSA) among vessels.
• Existing wireless technologies are not universally suitable for heterogeneous maritime communication needs.
• Vessel hardware and communication capabilities vary significantly.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a multimodal network architecture for seamless SSA in the maritime domain.
• To enable communication independent of vessel capabilities and context.
• To create an environment-aware, service-driven, and technology-agnostic communication system.

Main Methods:

• Design, implementation, and evaluation of a novel multimodal network architecture.
• Utilization of all available network interfaces on a vessel, including multiple IEEE 802.11 interfaces.
• Development of automated, transparent communication bootstrapping and application-network integration.

Main Results:

• The proposed architecture introduces minimal additional delay compared to standard Linux communication stacks.
• Automated communication bootstrapping is achieved, simplifying integration.
• A novel concept enables application-aware networks and network-aware applications.

Conclusions:

• The multimodal network architecture effectively enables SSA for vessels with diverse communication capabilities.
• The system is modular, supporting current and future communication technologies.
• Concepts are applicable beyond the maritime domain, adaptable to other industries.