Evaluating Smart Reconfigurable Antennas for Ship-to-Shore Communication in Harsh Maritime Environments

Abstract

Communication between ship and shore is important to the maritime industry, however some issues like active ocean conditions, distance, and background noise still pose severe problems. This paper analyzes the impact of SRAs as a smart reconfigurable antenna technology on diminishing barriers to transmitting communication with efficiency and reliability in difficult maritime surroundings. We look at adaptive control of radiation patterns for SRA architectures like ESPARs and metasurfaces and their monitoring for signal degradation from marine environment interference. Metrics considered are beam steering fixation, SNR, and link stability. These metrics are observed from simulations and sea trials. Our analysis showed that SRAs performed better than traditionally fixed beam antennas resulting in significant loss of link quality during adverse weather and vessel motion. These results reinforce the importance of smart antenna technologies in the next generation of maritime communication which incorporates autonomous vessel instrumentation and broadband offshore communication.