## 4 Methodology Used and Description of the Experiment  
We had to verify the possibility of implementing a Maritime Communication Network on Medium Frequency that would be capable of performing based on the coverage provided by the existence of a maritime traffic route with a certain density of ships that was suitable to withstand AVISOMEF. Therefore, we proceeded with the simulation as follows. We started the process by choosing a specific maritime area to conduct the experiment. With the use of other previously conducted studies, we determined that both the maritime area of Spanish management and the Portuguese coastal area located in the Iberian Peninsula could be adequate for this study. In the aforementioned research works, it was shown that these were optimal areas for AVISOMEF implantation. Subsequently, four Traffic Control Centres (TCCs) were established. It was determined, thanks to previous studies, that four centres were sufficient to perform a remote identification of all the maritime traffic that navigates through the system's implementation area [28; 29]. These TCCs would be located in Finisterre, Tarifa, Valencia, and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) (Figure 6). We selected these locations to take advantage of the infrastructures corresponding to the Medium-Frequency Wireless Telegraph centres, belonging to the Telefonica, S.A, a Spanish multinational telecommunications company. Coverage areas surrounding each of these four TCCs can be drawn that show the areas covered by the radio signal of the TCCs in the worst propagation circumstances. As can be seen in Figure 6, these coverage areas cover more than enough the first cells of each grid associated with them. The ships located in the first cells of each grid are the only ones that must connect directly with the TCC, so in this way good coverage is ensured. Figure 5: As seen in the cells that appear in part (**a**) of the figure, the simulator is able to form a channel between all the cells. Later, it will withdraw the ships involved in the channel. Then, in part (**b**) of the figure, the system tries to form another channel starting, once again, from the cell located on the right side. As there are no ships available in the second cell, the simulator starts with the cell next to the one that no longer has available ships. The following step consisted in the establishment of the grids linked to each of the TCCs, achieving in this way a remote identification of all maritime traffic that was navigating through the areas in which the Maritime Communications Network on Medium Frequency was intended to be installed. As we can see in Figure 6, the TCC of Finisterre (yellow) links 4 grids of 4, 10, 5, and 7 cells each and that of Valencia (green) has 5 grids of 5, 3, 7, 6, 6, and 7 cells each. The one in Tarifa (purple) has 4 associated grids of 6, 7, 5, and 5 cells each and the one in Las Palmas (blue) has 3 grids of 10, 10, and 7 cells each. Once everything concerning the digital cartography of the area under analysis had been implemented in the simulator, we proceeded to supply the data corresponding to the ships that sailed through it. The data processed corresponded to the years 2018, 2019, and 2020. The data renewal frequency was every 30 min. Therefore, worked with all the existing maritime traffic data in the area, with a refreshment frequency of 30 min, 24 h a day, 365 days a year, over a period of three years. We considered that this sufficiently representative sample was able to establish conclusive results that could be extrapolated to maritime traffic routes of similar densities [30]. Figure 6: Image from the simulator used, corresponding to one moment of more than 50,000 that were processed. With the simulator working with all the data, it was asked to provide results on the degree of implementation that the Maritime Communication Network on Medium Frequency could have on the Automatic Remote Identification System of Vessels on Medium Frequency. This requirement from the simulator was the object of study here presented.