• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.906-912
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• 2012

A ship ad-hoc network (SANET) can provide ships with diverse multimedia services by replacing expensive satellite communications. While ITU-R M. 1842-1, standards for maritime VHF band digital communications, can be used as the specifications of physical layer for SANETs, no standards are specified for higher layers of SANETs. In this paper, we propose a ship ad-hoc communication (SAC) protocol for SANETs, based on medium access control (MAC) and routing protocols for terrestrial ad-hoc networks. SAC protocol is a cross-layer protocol which combines MAC and routing into one algorithm and considers maritime environments, including the existence of neighboring ships, the possibility of routing to a destination, and changing the communication mode in case of VHF channel failure.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.681-688
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• 2016

Several VHF bands for the use in analog communications has been changed to those for the use in new maritime digital communications by WRC-12. ITU-R M. 1842-1 has been also standardized, recommending the characteristics of maritime digital communication systems. In addition, a Shipborne Ad-hoc Network (SANET) has been introduced by IMO in order to provide ships, which cannot be connected to a shore directly, with maritime digital data exchange services with the help of ad-hoc communication. In this paper, several functionalities of the SANET, including channel access, route determination to a shore, and data exchange, are verified via sea trials. It is expected that the SANET can be applicable to collecting and analyzing maritime information, facilitating the entry and departure of vessels, and the communication infrastructure of e-navigation.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.179-192
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• 2019

Additional frequencies are allocated in maritime digital data exchange to alleviate overload of the VHF data link. The shipborne ad-hoc network (SANET) for this frequencies was subsequently proposed, which provides various IP-based services to ships on behalf of satellite communications. In SANET, a ship should determine its own IP address to achieve IP connectivity to the shore. Accordingly, this paper proposes a SANET configuration (SANETconf) protocol as an IP configuration protocol. SANETconf propagates non-overlapping IP addresses across the network from the shore to ships. A ship obtains its IP address by exchanging Request and Response messages with its neighbors. Therefore, SANETconf eliminates the process of DAD and managing the movement of ships. Extensive simulations were performed to verify the applicability of SANETconf. Based on results, 85% of the ships can determine their own IP address within one frame. Also, SANETconf has a high resource efficiency by using 0.024 percent of resources for IP configuration.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.1999-2007
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• 2017

In this paper, we implement a multi-band network selection (MNS) system based on Linux operating system which determines the optimal communication link for given network conditions among the available LTE, very high frequency (VHF), and high frequency (HF). The implemented software consists of a network interface, an MNS server, and a user GUI. We perform indoor test to verify the function of the implemented MNS system using two sets of MNS system. To this end, two types of VHF communication links that follow ITU-R M.1842-1 Annex 1 and Annex 4 are emulated in software. In addition, the HF transmission (reception) port of one MNS is directly connected to the HF reception (transmission) port of another MNS. We demonstrate through indoor tests that the implemented MNS system can support seamless maritime communication service in spite of artificial disconnection or re-connection of LTE, VHFs, and HF. The implemented MNS system is applicable to various maritime communication services including e-navigation.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1252-1260
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• 2017

As digital communication technology evolves, the diversity of maritime communication methods has benn increasing due to the emergence of new maritime communication technologies such as digital very high frequency (VHF) communication systems and LTE-M as well as traditional conventional maritime communication systems. At sea, all maritime communication methods may be available, but only some communication methods may be available depending on the location. In this paper, we propose a multi-band network selection (MNS) system that can provide seamless maritime communication service by switching to an optimal communication band among available communication systems, depending on network environment and user requirements. The proposed MNS system in the middleware layer is designed to be able to interface with two types of digital VHF communication systems that satisfy Annex 1 and Annex 4 of ITU-R M. 1842-1, LTE, and high frequency (HF) communication systems. We assign priority to each communication band, and design an optimal communication band determination algorithm based on this priority.