Robust Communication Through Collective Adaptive Relay Schemes for Maritime Vessels

Maritime communication networks face unique challenges due to the dynamic and sparse distribution of vessels, variable environmental conditions, and heterogeneous technological constraints. With the increasing trend toward autonomy in maritime operations, these challenges become more pronounced. Modern maritime navigation systems integrate numerous highbandwidth sensors (including cameras and LiDAR) to enhance environmental perception, whose exploitation generates increased data rate demand. The increase is in contrast to traditional ship communication systems, which provide data rates in the order of kilobits per second. This paper proposes robust, multimean, collective adaptive software infrastructures to resiliently improve data collection by relaying data streams across multiple vessels. In particular, we introduce a method to form dynamic clusters of vessels whose information is summarised and then transmitted, raising the probability that the information reaches its destination. We validate our approach through simulation and show that the proposed clustering mechanism is capable of scaling up as new vessels are equipped with improved communication technologies. The research provides practical guidelines for the implementation of self-adaptive communication schemes in maritime environments, advancing the development of resilient communication systems capable of supporting real-time coordination, environmental monitoring, and emergency response for autonomous maritime operations.