Guest Editorial Special Issue on Internet of Things for Smart Ocean

The Internet of Things (IoT) for smart ocean is a promising paradigm that will support emerging applications in the areas of maritime transport, emergency search and rescue, security and border surveillance, environmental protection, etc. There has been a surging amount of data acquired from different maritime terminals, such as vessels, buoys, and offshore platforms. As a result, the demand for high-speed, ultrareliable, and low-latency maritime communications and data processing is proliferating. In this context, transmission and processing of maritime data have become a research hotspot. IoT technologies are expected to dramatically enhance the capacity, safety, and efficiency of connected vessels and other maritime terminals. Meanwhile, the unique characteristics of smart ocean applications create heterogeneous challenges in achieving viable, reliable, and secure communications and data processing. Addressing the challenges calls for novel approaches and consideration for the deployment of next-generation maritime communication networks. Therefore, it is essential to pursue research on new theories, architecture, and technologies to fully exploit the capability that is delivered by IoT for smart ocean to form efficient and intelligent maritime communication systems. This special issue aims to create a platform for researchers from both academia and industry to disseminate state-of-the-art results and to advance the applications of IoT for the smart ocean.