A Study on Performance Improvement of Maritime Wireless Communication Using Dynamic Power Control with Tethered Balloons

In recent years, the demand for maritime wireless communication has been increasing, particularly in areas such as ship operations management, marine resource utilization, and safety assurance. However, due to the difficulty of deploying base stations(BSs), maritime communication still faces challenges in terms of limited coverage and unreliable communication quality. As the number of users on ships and offshore platforms increases, along with the growing demand for mobile communication at sea, conventional terrestrial base stations struggle to provide stable connectivity. Therefore, existing maritime communication primarily relies on satellite communication and long-range Wi-Fi. However, these solutions still have limitations in terms of cost, stability, and communication efficiency. Satellite communication solutions, such as Starlink and Iridium, provide global coverage and high reliability, making them essential for deep-sea and offshore communication. However, these systems have high operational costs and limited bandwidth per user, making them impractical for cost-sensitive nearshore communication. Additionally, geostationary satellites suffer from high latency, while low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks require specialized and expensive terminals, increasing hardware costs and limiting compatibility with existing maritime communication systems. On the other hand, 5G-based maritime communication offers high data rates and low latency, but its infrastructure deployment is demanding, requiring offshore base stations, relay networks, and high-frequency mmWave (millimeter-wave) technology. The high costs of deployment and maintenance restrict the feasibility of 5G networks for large-scale nearshore environments. Furthermore, in dynamic maritime environments, maintaining stable backhaul connections presents a significant challenge. To address these issues, this paper proposes a low-cost nearshore wireless communication solution utilizing tethered balloons as coastal base stations. Unlike satellite communication, which relies on expensive global infrastructure, or 5G networks, which require extensive offshore base station deployment, the proposed method provides a more economical and flexible nearshore communication alternative. The tethered balloon is physically connected to the coast, ensuring stable power supply and data backhaul while providing wide-area coverage to support communication for ships and offshore platforms. Compared to short-range communication solutions, this method reduces operational costs while significantly improving communication efficiency, making it suitable for scenarios where global satellite coverage is unnecessary and 5G infrastructure is impractical. Additionally, conventional uniform power allocation or channel-gain-based amplification methods often fail to meet the communication demands of dynamic maritime environments. This paper introduces a nonlinear dynamic power allocation method based on channel gain information to maximize downlink communication efficiency. Simulation results demonstrate that, compared to conventional methods, the proposed approach significantly improves downlink communication performance, verifying its feasibility in achieving efficient and stable communication in nearshore environments.