Description
The Ocean and the Blue Economy are top priorities in Portugal and in the European Union, as stated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), National Ocean Strategy (2013), and Commission's Action Plan for a Maritime Strategy in the Atlantic Area (2013). Portugal’s immense ocean territory and its Blue Economy potential is envisioned to increase activity at the ocean. The support of this activity will demand wireless and mobile communications to connect humans and systems at remote ocean areas to the Internet, in alternative to HF/VHF and Satellite communications. BLUECOM+ project aims at developing an innovative communications solution that will enable broadband, cost-effective Internet access at remote ocean areas to regular devices using standard wireless access technologies. Will include the specification, implementation, and laboratory testing of the communications solution to achieve a proof-of-concept prototype to be demonstrated in a remote ocean area.
Summary of project results
Communications at sea are based on the use of HF / VHF or Satellite radios. HF communications have been widely used, for example, for communication between oceanographic buoys and ground, taking advantage of the wide range they allow, but are limited to very small binary rates. Analog VHF radios are typically used for communications between vessels and between vessels at sea and land; however, are limited to voice communications. Satellite communications can be used for Internet access in a remote maritime environment, but are based on proprietary technology, still have bandwidth limitations and cost too high for most users operating at sea. Broadband communications using standard technologies are available through cellular and Wi-Fi networks available on land, but only in areas close to the coast. There is no solution that allows broadband and low-cost Internet access in remote areas of the ocean as an alternative to Satellite. The project aims to develop an innovative communications solution that will allow broadband and low-cost Internet access in remote ocean areas using conventional terminals - eg, smartphones, laptops, tablets - equipped with standardized technologies such as Wi- -Fi and 4G. This communication solution aims to facilitate and support emerging maritime activities, such as exploration of mineral resources in the ocean floor and environmental monitoring, with increasing use of autonomous vehicles, or more traditional activities such as fishing or shipping , which increasingly require access to communications at sea in order to connect people and systems to the Internet. The concept of the project is based on the use of helium balloons anchored, for example, in buoys, boats or wind farms, which form a broadband flown net operating in the frequency bands released by analogue television, in order to guarantee long range radio links. Results achieved: Concept BLUECOM + - the project defined a new concept of offshore multi-jump maritime networks, centered on the use of anchored helium balloons and frequencies in the range of the so-called TV White Spaces, which enables the availability of broadband communications in remote offshore areas. - Prototypes of the Land Wireless Router and the Tethered Wireless Router - three prototypes were created, materialized in a communications box installed on the helium balloons and in the ground station.
Summary of bilateral results
- Greater proximity to the Norwegian Embassy, which could enhance and facilitate future joint projects between national entities, including project partners, and Norwegian entities; - Greater knowledge and proximity to the universe of Norwegian companies and partners, namely in the area of oil & gas - Dissemination of the solution and results of the project with Norwegian partners, as well as the deepening of the knowledge of the relevant stakeholders in Norway, which have already allowed to identify partnerships in future projects; - Reinforcement of the partnership with MARLO, which has already resulted in a new European project (SpilLess) started in February 2017.