Long-Range Maritime Communications through a Multi-Link Ensemble

Abstract

We consider the ability to support communications for beyond line of site (BLOS) maritime applications through an ensemble of communication link modalities. While satellite communications is often used for this purpose it can be costly in terms of airtime. As anticipated no one modality is expected to enable adequate performance; however, we have modelled the performance of an ensemble of links which shows promise in providing operationally-relevant data rates. The link paths investigated include HF (skywave and surface wave), ducting, meteor burst, and troposcatter.