Channel modelling for wideband data communication in a maritime mobile environment

Wideband data transmission between manned and/or unmanned ships is required for various future applications, e.g. real-time sonar data transmission in mine-hunting systems or online video surveillance of unmanned marine platforms. For most of these applications, only a limited number of data communication units is needed and systems design has to focus on solutions where commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components can be used to significantly reduce development cost and time. A theoretical analysis of the propagation effects in the maritime mobile transmission channel at the 2.5 GHz ISM-band is provided. The theoretical results are confirmed by results obtained in an extensive measurement campaign. Based on the outcome of the channel analysis, a COTS-based system concept for a wideband maritime mobile transmission system is presented.