Analysis of optimal backhaul link selection in a novel maritime communication network

Offshore fishing is serving as a major livelihood for millions of people around the world. OceanNet project aims at developing an effective, low-cost, long range communication system to provide internet connectivity at the sea. Wireless Backhaul network is formed by connecting Base Station (BS) in the shore to the Adaptive Backhaul Equipment (ABE) in the boats. The fishermen fishing in a particular fishing zone form a cluster. A mesh network is formed in the clusters to improve the connectivity. In this work, OceanNet Backhaul Link Selection (OBLS) algorithm is implemented in a hardware test-bed that models the OceanNet topology to assess the feasibility of using this in the off-shore boats. It also proposes and implements a controller as a static node in the Base Station network which analyzes the connectivity based on signal strength, noise floor and link quality and selects the best backhaul links by redirecting the route from Access Routers to the ABE having good Signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio to reach the Base Station. The throughput tests analyzed demonstrate that the packet delivery ratio is improved to a large extent after the application of the OBLS algorithm.