Autonomous and remotely controlled ships operating in the Arctic area will need the connectivity that cannot be provided with the current systems. This study concentrates on investigating what kind of satellite communication system is needed for reliable operations in the defined area when the main application is a drone-assisted situational awareness system for the autonomous ships. The conducted work defines communication architecture and the constellation needed for reliable communications. The results show that the defined mega-constellation system is able to meet the throughput and coverage requirements.

Chapter Contents:

• 6.1 Introduction
• 6.2 System model and requirements
• 6.2.1 System requirements
• 6.3 Use cases for autonomous ship-based LEO satellite connectivity
• 6.3.1 Continuous satellite connectivity use case: collision avoidance with remote control and AR support
• 6.3.2 Discontinuous satellite connectivity use case: fully autonomous monitoring operation
• 6.4 Design methodology
• 6.4.1 Minimal number of satellites for the continuous coverage
• 6.4.2 Optimal number of satellites
• 6.5 Results
• 6.5.1 Coverage
• 6.5.2 Satellite visibility
• 6.5.3 Latency
• 6.5.4 Link duration
• 6.6 Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• References

Inspec keywords: satellite communication; remotely operated vehicles; mobile robots; ships

Other keywords: mega-constellation system; conducted work defines communication architecture; remotely controlled ships; autonomous shipping; drone-assisted situational awareness system; satellite communication system; autonomous ships; Arctic area; enabler

Subjects: Control applications in radio and radar; Satellite communication systems; Marine system control; Mobile robots; Telerobotics