# A Study on Identification of Development Status of MASS Technologies and Directions of Improvement
## 4 Design, Communication and Maintenance Studies of the MASS
### Communication System and Cyber Security of MASS
Autonomous ships are expected to require a wider range of sensors (e.g., optical and IR cameras; LIDAR; RADAR), with navigation systems such as GPS, INS (inertial navigation system) and GMDSS (global maritime distress and safety system), and transmit a huge amount of data to control autonomous functions and help real-time decisions. For example, LiDAR, which can be used to obtain detailed data about the environment, easily requires a few Mbit/s capacity for transmitting the data. The generation of three-dimensional maps of high definition (HD) video also requires few Mbit/s in autonomous navigation scenarios [44]. In addition, sensors related to the status of engines and mechanical parts provide a small amount of critical data to be transferred to the remote operators onshore. In case of emergency situations such as stranding or evasive maneuvering, the ship systems should be remotely monitored and controlled by the operators of the SCC, receiving crucial information via satellite at short time intervals. Therefore, high data rates, data integrity, real-time communications, the resilience of the data transfer, robustness, and security should be taken into consideration for efficient communication between the ships and the SCC. There has been research on the identification of communication methods and problems between ships and vessels or ships and land and their countermeasures [43; 44; 45; 46]. Regarding cybersecurity, if a cyberattack happens to a ship's critical control system, it can cause incidents and casualties such as collision, stranding, and environmental pollution. The authors of [47; 48] studied cyberattack scenarios and proposed a system architecture to resolve potential situations. As malicious activity grows and new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) emerge, new security challenges will materialize and the suitable protection of systems, networks, and data in cyberspace will be required. There are also some concerns on regulations and standardization for the communication system of the MASS as e-navigation and the electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) will be essential for autonomous ships, with aid from other ship navigation systems such as the automatic identification system (AIS) and river information services for inland waterways. In November 2014, the E-navigation Strategy Implementation Plan (SIP) was approved, where one of the scopes concerned effective and robust communication methods for maritime operations [49]. The SIP is intended to meet present and future user needs through harmonization of marine navigation systems and the support of shore services. Moreover, the coordinated use of multiple heterogeneous unmanned vehicles such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for remote-sensing can be beneficial for several reasons. Not only can different vehicles be used to acquire data in different environments, but they can also improve overall communication performance. Moored or quasi-static systems can be useful, especially in operation areas where environmental hazards do not encourage or permit human presence. Figure 2 shows MASS and SCC systems with essential equipment and functions and their relationship formed by data and information via satellite. Communication requirements can be reduced by a higher degree of autonomy where the onboard processing system analyzes the data for detection, tracking, classification, and recognition of objects of interest [50]. However, it should be noted that the higher degree of autonomy a ship has, the more crucial and significant accidents the ship can cause. Therefore, all the systems, including connectivity, need to be designed so that a single failure should not have a significant impact on the ability of the ship to operate in all relevant modesand environments. The communication system supporting autonomous operations is thus considered as an integral part of the safety system.