# Experimental Evaluation of an IoT-Based Platform for Maritime Transport Services
## 3 Reference Scenario  
In Figure 1, we depict the reference scenario for operating the Maritime Platform as designed within the ESA-funded project [10]. The scenario includes a vessel equipped with:  
1. A set of NB-IoT devices enabling massive IoT. Those smart objects are installed on containers and allow for transmitting positioning and status reports of goods generated by local sensors;
2. The On-board 5G cellular network is installed on board of the vessel and supports NB-IoT technology. It is composed by the eNodeB that implements the radio access and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) that implements the core network. The eNodeB is in charge of managing the smart objects controlling the air data and signaling exchanges implementing all the means to maintain the connection with the NB-IoT modules. The EPC is in charge of authenticating the smart objects, then allowing their connection to the network. 3. The Smart mIoT gateway provides multi-backhauling ship-to-land connectivity via satellite for massive NB-IoT data. It is mainly composed of the following functions: (i) a switching function for compressing and routing massive IoT data; (ii) a monitoring function for monitoring the status of all local data; and (iii) a security function for onboard data and network protection. 4. A Satellite transceiver, called a 5G-specialized Satellite Terminal (SST), which guarantees the connectivity in open sea via a Ku-band satellite link. The proposed solution includes the use of Ku-band frequencies to transmit and receive data even in mobility scenarios. This is considered attractive for the stakeholders (e.g., shipping lines) since the Ku-band is traditionally less expensive than the L-band that is usually used for this type of applications, which reduces the satellite bandwidth cost. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{142.3 pt} p{142.3 pt} p{142.3 pt}} \hline \hline  & **Strengths** & **Limitations** \\ \hline
[13] & Exhaustive analysis of the digital transformation in container shipping. & Empirical study based on data collected through interviews. \\ \hline
[11, 12, 14] & Survey on the enabling technologies for maritime communications networks. & Lack of concrete implementation aspects. \\ \hline
[15, 20, 21] & Comprehensive overview on data management in maritime transport, IoT systems and cyber-security threats. & Lack of concrete implementation aspects. \\ \hline
[16, 17, 18, 19] & Focus the technological revolution in the shipping industry especially regarding data management. & Lack of concrete implementation aspects. \\ \hline
[22] & Use of RFID technology for cargo monitoring. & No real-time tracking. \\ \hline
[23, 24] & Development of proprietary and siloed real-time tracking systems. & No scalable solutions. Hard to adopt to future scenario evolutions. \\ \hline
[25, 26] & European research initiatives based on experimental evaluations. & Still at an early experimental stage with complex integration and testing challenges still to be addressed. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Summary of related works. The scenario also considers terrestrial elements including the following elements:  
* The Satellite ground network includes the teleports (5.a) that are interconnected via a dedicated backbone network (for the sake of clearness, only one teleport is depicted in the figure). Each teleport supports bidirectional IoT data traffic from return/to forward links as well as data traffic to the gateway (data plane) or to control elements (control and management plane) through an internal network of switches. The satellite ground network also includes the gateway (5.b), called 5G-specialized Satellite Gateway (5 SG), which is typically a full-featured IP router with a strong set of functions and protocols (e.g., various routing protocols, network address translation, firewall services) that conveys data to the external networks, e.g., Telco Operator Network, and the Internet.