Networking addresses the interconnection of target vessels, serving as the foundation for digitalization, unmanned operations, and intelligentization. Positioning is the key to vessel management—how can scientific management be achieved if we cannot even determine a vessel’s location? Taking maritime authorities and fishery administration agencies as examples, this paper explores solutions to the networking and positioning challenges in the management of cruise ships, ferries, and fishing vessels, leveraging the characteristics of Guoxin Longxin’s wireless systems and numerous practical cases.
Due to the risks and particularities associated with ship navigation, accidents are frequently reported. The safe operation of ships poses a significant test for managers, making the construction of a real-time visual navigation monitoring and command dispatch system imperative.
Maritime authorities and waterway administration departments typically require ferry and cruise ship companies to install high-definition (HD) monitoring systems on board. These systems enable 24/7 real-time monitoring of ferry terminal order and ship navigation, record passenger and vehicle loading conditions to prevent overloading, and provide first-hand data for water emergency rescue and accident investigation. Additionally, real-time tracking of a ship’s position is essential to ensure navigation safety. While video monitoring can be easily implemented by installing cameras, the core challenges lie in achieving reliable ship networking and accurate positioning.
The most difficult aspect of fishing vessel management for fishery administrations is the enforcement of fishing moratoriums— a critical measure for the recovery and sustainable development of fishery resources. The challenge stems from managing a large number of both legal and illegal fishing vessels. However, if each vessel is equipped with real-time positioning capabilities and video access, effective management becomes feasible. In summary, networking serves as the foundation, positioning as the key, and video monitoring as a supplementary tool for the scientific management of fishing vessels.
Despite variations in the specific needs and priorities of “smart water transportation” and “smart ship” systems among different stakeholders—including maritime authorities, waterway administrations, fishery administrations, maritime public security, customs anti-smuggling units, coast guards, and numerous ship-related enterprises—networking and positioning remain the two core focus areas for all ship management systems. Guoxin Longxin’s solution is specifically designed to address these two critical challenges.
Key business requirements for ship management include, but are not limited to:
- HD Video Monitoring: Install IP network cameras on board to transmit real-time images to the command and dispatch center for storage. This assists dispatchers in monitoring vessel safety, provides first-hand information for management, and ensures navigation security.
- Beidou Positioning and Navigation System: Obtain real-time Beidou latitude and longitude positioning data of ferries to enhance the scientific nature of dispatch and ensure navigation safety.
Other business systems, such as IP telephony, IP broadcasting, voice intercom, and video conferencing, also rely heavily on network support. Therefore, we first focus on exploring ship networking solutions.
Ship networking solutions must be tailored to specific requirements and available resources. Given the mobile nature of ships, wireless communication technology is the inevitable choice. Wireless technologies—including Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN), and Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN)—each have their own advantages and limitations. There is no one-size-fits-all standardized solution; instead, customized approaches are optimal. This paper presents two common solutions for typical use cases.
The WWAN public network solution leverages telecom operators’ public network resources (currently 4G/5G networks) to achieve interconnection via the Internet. It is critical to note that hardware VPN and private cloud integration are mandatory to ensure system security. This solution is not suitable for systems handling sensitive or confidential data due to potential security risks.
To implement the WWAN solution, ships only need to be equipped with 4G/5G gateways compatible with the selected telecom operator. This approach offers advantages such as convenience, quick deployment, and low initial investment. A typical network topology diagram for ship WWAN connectivity is shown below:
Note: The adoption of Guoxin Longxin’s 4G dual-mode wireless gateway for WAN Internet interconnection not only offers diverse access methods but also ensures enhanced security and reliability through robust VPN integration. Furthermore, the system supports the establishment of point-to-multipoint and even multipoint-to-multipoint iMAX wireless private networks, enabling direct interconnection between ships via iMAX wireless technology without relying on other networks—thereby extending the effectiveness of 4G/5G network access.
Guoxin Longxin’s iMAX-4GW300 series 4G MAN dual-mode wireless gateway system is a powerful tool for connecting cloud computing edge nodes to the cloud. Supporting both iMAX wireless MAN technology and 4G LTE technology, the iMAX-4GW300 provides multiple Ethernet interfaces, functioning as a multi-network convergence gateway. In terms of wireless communication, it leverages wireless private network technology to deliver high bandwidth, high reliability, and large capacity, while also supporting 4G LTE network access via telecom operators’ public networks. This flexibility allows it to provide users with optimal wireless networking solutions tailored to their specific needs.
Guoxin Longxin’s latest 5G multimode gateway utilizes telecom operators’ 5G networks to establish virtual private networks. Similar in principle and architecture to the aforementioned iMAX-4GW300 device, it achieves comparable functionality. However, benefiting from the 5G network’s significantly greater bandwidth compared to 4G, it better meets the high-bandwidth networking requirements of government and enterprise clients.
Currently, the coverage rate of telecom operators’ 5G public networks (especially in outdoor areas such as rivers and coastal regions) is not yet sufficiently high. Additionally, since the coverage radius of 5G base stations is only half that of 4G, it is recommended to prioritize 4G networks for ship networking projects with low bandwidth requirements.
The advantages of the WWAN solution lie in its low cost and wide coverage, but it has the following clear application limitations:
- Access Limitations: Data transmission relies on operators’ mobile communication platforms, which are restricted by base station deployment. Communication quality and reliability cannot be guaranteed in some remote outdoor and rural areas—regions that may be of critical importance for ship management informatization.
- Bandwidth Limitations: River channel monitoring requires real-time transmission of large-capacity IP HD video streams. When multiple video streams are concurrently transmitted in a single area, neither the bandwidth nor the reliability of operators’ 4G/5G networks can meet such demands.
- High Costs: Video monitoring consumes substantial data traffic, especially for HD video. A single 1080P HD video stream can use over 1000GB of data per month. Even at the current most favorable rate of 3 yuan per GB, this translates to a monthly cost of over 3000 yuan per stream. For multiple video streams, the costs become prohibitive. The 4G/5G solution incurs ongoing high data fees, making 24/7 continuous use unfeasible due to unsustainable operational costs.
Beyond terminal data fees, “cloud” costs must also be considered: after video is transmitted to the Internet, it requires relay through a cloud platform to enable mutual access. Using a third-party public cloud platform for video relay incurs additional expenses such as high cloud service rentals and dedicated VPN lines, resulting in excessive costs. The most cost-effective approach is to lease a fixed-IP dedicated Internet line from a telecom operator to connect to the monitoring center, combined with one-time purchases of VPN gateway equipment—this significantly reduces the overall cost. - Security Risks: 4G/5G access requires relay through public Internet cloud platforms, exposing systems to cybersecurity threats such as hacker attacks and virus infections. Ensuring security would require a professional security team, which is impractical for most industrial users. Therefore, truly classified networks must be “physically isolated” from the Internet. This solution is only suitable for systems with low confidentiality requirements that do not involve remote control. Even then, “hardware VPN + private cloud exchange” is generally adopted to enhance system security, reliability, and availability.
If the aforementioned limitations hinder effective ship management, the Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) private network solution is recommended.
The WMAN private network, also known as a “wireless ad-hoc network,” involves the regulatory authority constructing a dedicated network within a specific target area (e.g., a 100km waterway or a 100-square-kilometer sea area) for exclusive real-time use.
As a self-built network, the entire infrastructure—from ship terminals to base stations, and from base stations to the monitoring and command center—requires overall planning and design. Taking the construction of a ship management system for a maritime authority as an example, the solution design is explored as follows:
Network connectivity between the maritime authority and ferry terminals/ports is referred to as the “backbone network,” which demands high bandwidth and large capacity. Currently, the following main solutions are available:
- Self-built Optical Fiber Cable: Constructing optical fiber cables requires trench digging, pipe laying, or pole erection, resulting in extremely high costs. Furthermore, this approach is increasingly unfeasible in many areas due to municipal management restrictions.
- Leased Dedicated Lines: Telecom operators possess existing optical fiber resources, allowing users to lease point-to-point dedicated data lines with fixed bandwidth. The advantage is no need for self-built infrastructure, but the drawback is high long-term operational costs. Lease fees vary based on communication distance, cross-region coverage, bandwidth, and resource availability, but they are typically substantial. For example, a 100M dedicated line within a city usually costs 20,000–30,000 yuan per year per line. For networking multiple ports and terminals, annual lease costs can reach hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan, which is unsustainable for users.
- Wireless Private Network: The iMAX wireless backbone private network system is a typical wireless private network solution that enables ultra-long-distance backbone connectivity through integrated design. This one-time investment solution eliminates recurring lease fees. It can partially replace optical fiber lines when combined with self-built cables or leased dedicated lines, significantly reducing rental costs. In terms of reliability, the iMAX WMAN system supports metropolitan area network technologies such as “hot standby” and “ring network,” achieving reliability comparable to “fiber optic ring networks.” In terms of security, the iMAX WMAN system employs proprietary protocols and supports multiple security technologies including wireless packetization, data encryption, VPN, VLAN, and firewalls, meeting the security requirements of all industrial users.
The typical network topology of a high-reliability iMAX WMAN backbone network is as follows:
The schematic diagram of a typical iMAX Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) ring topology is as follows:
2）Access Network Design
Network connectivity between ferries/ports under maritime authorities and ships, as well as inter-ship connectivity, is referred to as the “access network.” In the iMAX Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) system, products such as the iMAX-8000S, iMAX-8000H, and iMAX-8000M are specifically designed for edge wireless access network deployment. The iMAX-8000 Base Station (BS) units need to be installed at locations including ferries, ports, maritime pontoons, or high points along navigation routes to cover specific water areas. Ships are equipped with iMAX-8000 Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), which can connect to the base stations on demand within the coverage radius. Subsequently, interconnection with the command center is achieved through the backbone network.
Once ship networking to ferries, ports, or maritime pontoons is realized via the iMAX wireless private network, all IT services on board that support TCP/IP network communication can be seamlessly operational.
The schematic diagram of a typical wireless metropolitan area network topology for a maritime ship management system is as follows:
Note: Maritime authorities manage a wide range of ship types, both large and small, all of which can be equipped with the iMAX Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) system. Inter-ship communication, ship-to-shore base station communication, and base station-to-base station communication can all be resolved through iMAX wireless private network technology. The communication distance between a ship and a base station can reach several kilometers, over ten kilometers, or even further. Despite being named “base stations,” the iMAX-8000 Base Station (BS) units are not large infrastructure like communication towers—they are compact, lightweight, and low-power-consuming, resulting in extremely low deployment costs.
Additional Note: If the communication distance between ships and base stations is extremely long (up to tens of nautical miles) and the number of ships is small, Guoxin Longxin’s Huanyou Low-Frequency Wireless MESH Mobile Communication System can be considered. Operating at a typical frequency of 1.4GHz, this system meets the requirements for longer communication distances.
The iMAX wireless communication system is a “private network” solution that enables independent networking without relying on telecom operators’ infrastructure. Designed to build wireless cities or address ultra-long-distance network interconnection in outdoor environments, all product series offer exceptional communication ranges. The iMAX system supports metropolitan area networking technologies such as VLAN, bridging, routing, and firewalls, and can seamlessly integrate with fiber-optic networks. Among its product lineup, the iMAX-6000 and iMAX-9000 series serve as backbone network solutions, while the iMAX-8000S and iMAX-8000H series are designed for edge access networks.
- Communication Distance: Under line-of-sight conditions, even the smallest iMAX5G dedicated communication system with an integrated antenna can easily achieve a coverage radius of 10 kilometers in point-to-multipoint mode. In point-to-point mode, the maximum distance can reach 100 kilometers, making it ideal for ultra-long-distance communication and networking in island, mountainous, and desert areas.
- Transmission Bandwidth: The iMAX-8000H is a 600Mbps point-to-multipoint communication system, while the iMAX-8000S is a 100Mbps point-to-multipoint system.
- Multi-Service Capabilities: The iMAX WMAN system can be integrated with metropolitan backbone networks and fully supports the mixed transmission of multiple media types, including data, video, and voice. Rich network features such as RSTP, VLAN, VPN, QoS, software firewalls, and dynamic routing protocols enable “multi-network convergence” for diverse user services. Its wide frequency range and high bandwidth ensure reliable support for bandwidth-intensive applications, especially video services (e.g., security monitoring, video conferencing).
- Mobility Support: All iMAX-8000 series products offer excellent mobility, even suitable for mobile communication systems with speeds exceeding 120km/h.
The advantages of the iMAX WMAN system include dedicated private network usage, high reliability, security, practicality, one-time investment, and no recurring rental costs. However, it has certain limitations: it requires a clear line of sight (signals cannot penetrate significant obstacles) and involves a higher initial investment compared to 4G/5G systems. Therefore, iMAX WMAN solutions must be customized based on specific requirements, often requiring on-site surveys, electromagnetic testing, and extensive project experience.
In our past successful ship networking private network projects, we have not only achieved bidirectional real-time video transmission between ships and the command center but also ensured seamless automatic roaming of ships across multiple private network base stations (BS) during movement—video services remain uninterrupted and fully operational.
It is important to emphasize again: Neither WWAN nor WMAN solutions can be simply copied. Customized design based on detailed requirements is essential. Guoxin Longxin’s extensive project experience and technical expertise serve as strong guarantees for project success.
Real-time ship positioning is one of the core issues in ship management. With networking capabilities in place, complemented by real-time positioning and video monitoring, ship status can be effectively managed. Video monitoring technology is mature and easy to deploy, while positioning can be achieved through various solutions.
For ship positioning management, the following two common technical solutions are available:
1.Beidou Positioning:
Beidou is China’s independent global satellite positioning and navigation system, capable of providing real-time navigation information for moving ships and supporting short message communication. Equipped with Beidou terminals, an independent positioning network can be established. However, due to limited satellite uplink resources, terminals supporting short message forwarding via Beidou are not only costly but also require line and interface services from Beidou operators, resulting in high recurring short message fees (reference price: over 1,800 yuan per year). Additionally, short message-based position updates suffer from significant latency, failing to meet real-time requirements—a key user concern.
Beidou positioning and navigation information is free of charge, making it widely adopted in many ship and vehicle management systems. In such cases, positioning data is uploaded to the Internet via telecom operators’ 4G/5G networks. This approach avoids the high cost of dedicated terminals and the fees/latency issues associated with short message services. However, these technical platforms are typically public cloud-based systems deployed on the Internet, posing security risks such as data leakage and cyberattacks. As such, they are not suitable for private network use by government authorities such as maritime and fishery administrations.
To meet the private network management needs of ships and vehicles, Guoxin Longxin has launched the IP Beidou positioning terminal IPGNSS632. This product addresses the requirements of IP private network positioning, providing real-time latitude, longitude, altitude, and clock data transmitted via Ethernet.
Using the IPGNSS632 for positioning and navigation offers a cost-effective solution for ship positioning. The product is purchased with a one-time investment, positioning information is obtained free of charge, and there are no recurring fees for Beidou operation platforms. As long as the network is accessible, data such as latitude and longitude can be refreshed in real time. This device can be deployed in conjunction with Guoxin Longxin’s iMAX Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) system or 4G dual-mode wireless gateway, providing a low-cost solution for ship positioning.
2.AIS Positioning:
AIS is the abbreviation of Automatic Identification System. Composed of shore-based (base station) facilities and shipborne equipment, it is a new type of digital navigation aid system and equipment integrating network technology, modern communication technology, computer technology, and electronic information display technology. It is an internationally recognized effective tool for ship positioning and identification, with dedicated radio frequency bands (156.025MHz to 162.025MHz).
As an international maritime-specific system, AIS involves relatively high costs. Generally speaking, all international navigation ships of 300 gross tons and above must be equipped with AIS during construction. However, ships navigating inland rivers, especially small vessels, often lack such systems. Additionally, for maritime and fishery administration departments to utilize AIS, they must construct their own AIS receiving base stations, which requires investment in base station networking and power supply—further hindering the popularization of this technology.
Both aforementioned positioning technologies have their respective advantages and disadvantages: Beidou positioning features lower construction costs but provides relatively single-dimensional information, while AIS offers richer data but comes with higher costs. However, both are front-end positioning information collection solutions. Key questions remain: How to link positioning data with ship information? How to establish custom databases and information presentation/retrieval systems?
A common requirement for both technologies is the need to customize software platforms based on specific user needs. These platforms should integrate nautical charts as the background, and even fuse with on-board video surveillance data to enable effective ship management. In short, customized software development is essential, and Guoxin Longxin can recommend suitable software suppliers for users.
On the foundation of IP networking, real-time ship positioning, and access to live HD video, ship management can truly meet the requirements of modern scientific management—a general trend in the industry.
Given the risks associated with ship navigation and evolving management needs, both government authorities (such as maritime, waterway, customs, and coast guard agencies) and ship-related enterprises (including offshore oil, offshore wind power, aquaculture, cruise tourism, and ferry operators) will continue to invest in “smart ship management” in the future. As the foundation of “smart” operations, networking and positioning are areas where Guoxin Longxin can provide robust technical support.
In summary, based on years of experience in similar projects, Guoxin Longxin can tailor the most suitable system design, and provide optimal products and technical support for users.
