Using maritime boundaries for legal usage of radio frequency bands (ScanReach)

ScanReach is a Norwegian startup company that develops radio communication equipment for on-board wireless connectivity in the marine environment. As ships travel in various national and international waters, they have to conform to each state’s legal requirements regarding the use of frequency bands. In order to conform to these legal requirements, the ScanReach systems select frequency bands based on the GPS location of the ship. The 12 Nautical Miles Zone (Territorial Seas) of Marine Regions is used to identify in which state’s Territorial Sea the ship is located.

“Scandinavian Reach Technologies is using the Marine Regions’ World 12 Nautical Miles Zone as a basis for their geoadaptive frequency protocol. The dataset enhances precision of the ScanReach protocol and also greatly reduces complexity.”

ScanReach

ScanReach develops wireless connectivity equipment for the maritime industry. Through their wireless IoT sensor technology they connect people, assets and cargo in complex and confined steel environments. This innovative technology removes the need for complex and expensive cabling and results in increased safety and vessel performance.

Objectives

Different regions have different requirements regarding the legal usage of frequency bands. For example, European states typically allow the usage of frequencies in the range 865-858 MHz while the USA allows usage of 902-928 MHz.

Methodology

In order to conform to each state’s requirements, the radio frequency selection protocol of ScanReach selects frequency band based on the current GPS location of the vessel. Marine Regions is used to determine in which Territorial Sea the ship is located, and thus which frequency protocols apply.

Used components of the LifeWatch Infrastructure

Marine Regions

Marine Regions is a standard list of marine georeferenced place names and areas. It integrates and serves geographic information from the VLIMAR Gazetteer and the MARBOUND database. The purpose of Marine Regions is therefore to create a standard, relational list of geographic names, coupled with information and maps of the geographic location of these features. This will improve access and clarity of the different geographic, marine names such as seas, sandbanks, ridges and bays and display univocally the boundaries of marine biogeographic or managerial marine areas.