Experimental analysis of a WiMAX-satellite network for emergency management in sea areas

The paper presents a network scenario for multimedia communications during emergency operations in a sea area. The network scenario is composed by a satellite link and a WiMAX system provided by a main naval unit. The WiMAX system permits the communications between the operators on small units and the main naval unit, where there are both local coordinators and the shared satellite link, used for communications between units on the crisis area and the headquarter. The presented network scenario has been experimentally tested in terms of coverage area offered by the WiMAX system, IP throughput and user level quality of service of VoIP applications.