Firmware Implementation of the ITU-R M.1371 Standard on the Transmit and Receive Functions of Shipborne Mobile Automatic Identification System on a Development Board

The shipborne mobile Automatic Identification System (AIS) has been developed and is being used to detect and identify marine vessels. Vessel detection and identification are essential in limiting the occurrence of accidents both in open waters and in ports. The development and the manufacture of AIS units are standardized in order to ensure interoperability between units irrespective of the manufacturer. Each manufactured unit should comply with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standards. These standards are specified in the ITU-R M.1371. These recommendations identify the technical characteristics of any universal Shipborne AIS. This paper aims to present the firmware development for implementing AIS's transmit and receive functions in a development board based on ITU standards. The firmware is a program embedded in the development board that carries out the tasks specified in the recommendations. These transmit and receive functions allow the transfer of information for the detection and the identification of ships. The results of this study are used as part of the efforts of the Philippine government to develop its own local and low-cost AIS units to be used in marine vessels plying the country's territorial waters, allowing them to be monitored.