A Model of OFDM based Maritime VHF Communication System for Data Exchange

In the maritime Very High Frequency (VHF) band, there are no systems for transmitting large amounts of data. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new systems that would modernize the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), significantly relieve the Automatic Identification System’s (AIS) communication channels, and set guidelines for the development of communication infrastructure of the e-Navigation. In line with this, analytical and simulation models of the maritime VHF data transmission communication system using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation are worked out in this paper. The achieved data rate, the spectral efficiency and the bit error rate (BER) represent validation parameters on which the results of the analytical and simulation models are evaluated. It is concluded that the application of the digital OFDM modulation in the maritime VHF band may improve the GMDSS system by achieving higher data rates compared to the current terrestrial mandatory systems for data exchange, i.e. Digital Selective Calling (DSC) and AIS.