Spectrum Requirements for Control and Non-payload Communication of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship

Abstract

This paper proposed a frequency bandwidth required for the Control and Non-Payload Communications (CNPC) in autonomous operations of the Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS). The issue was to seek a radio spectrum to meet future demand for safe operations of autonomous ship at sea. As described in Document 5B/841 of ITU-R SG, safe navigation of autonomous ships relies on communications for command and control. Based on the operations required for the safe navigation of the MASS, the total bit rates were calculated. The spectrum requirements were obtained for command and control communications in operating the MASS safely. As a result, in terms of bandwidth, transmit rate, and transmit distance, state of the art satellite communication system was suitable for a safe operation of the MASS.