Connecting Land-Based Networks to Ships

Abstract

Today it's important for ships at sea to be able to communicate and exchange information with a shore network, like file transferring, database access, e-mail, web/intranet browsing, or video conferencing. Navy ships might even want to send a live video feed from the field. To accomplish this, most ships use satellite communications, an expensive and slow method. When a ship is near shore, it can use alternative methods of communicating with the shore network, which are typically faster and cost less. This thesis evaluates several such technologies to connect a shipboard local area network (LAN) to a wide-area land-based network. The equipment/hardware needed for each is described, a thorough analysis of each proposed connection implementation is presented, and the various alternatives in terms of cost, range, bandwidth, quality of service (QoS), and reliability are compared. Furthermore, experiments are conducted using cellular networks, satellite communications, 802.16 WiMAX, and Persistent Systems' proprietary Wave Relay. The results of the experiments are used to determine the method that would be best suited for various use cases.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA567499

Entities

People

  • Panagiotis Chatzigiannis

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cellular Networks
  • Communication Channels
  • Communication Systems
  • Computer Networks
  • Data Links
  • Digital Communications
  • Mesh Networks
  • Mobile Communications
  • Mobile Phones
  • Multiple Access
  • Network Protocols
  • Network Science
  • Network Topology
  • Operating Systems
  • Satellite Communications
  • Text Messaging
  • Wireless Networks

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Computer Networking
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Satellites