Abstract

Current maritime communication is mostly using the legacy VHF radio, which provides line of sight audio voice communication. It is known that satellite communication is the only option for secured long distance communication at sea. However it is not affordable for fishermen because of the substantial capital investment involved in launching the satellites to orbit. This work studies existing wireless technologies such as 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Cognitive Radio and LTE based on cost, communication range, operating frequency, vendor availability, bandwidth requirement, data rate requirement and latency. A utility function is computed based on the factors and finally a cost effective backhaul technology option for communication at sea is proposed for use by Indian fishermen.