## 2 Background and Definitions
### Maritime Communication  
The right communication protocol must be used for a vessel network to achieve a clear signal. Ensuring communication and navigational safety in maritime activities is paramount, and this is where maritime communications, spanning both inland waterway and sea communications, play a pivotal role as a critical technology [1]. In addition to waterway and sea communications, there are also aerial, space, and terrestrial communications. Developing a robust communication solution for IoT applications in the maritime environment is crucial to minimize external interference and ensure reliable data transmission from senders, such as smart containers, to receivers, such as cloud services. This is vital to maintain the integrity and efficiency of maritime IoT systems, enabling seamless connectivity and effective data exchange in the face of potential disruptions or signal disturbances. Communications technologies can be broadly categorized into the following categories:  
* Near Range--The near range technologies are for short-range communications within a limited area or proximity, such as ship-to-ship or ship-to-shore communication over short distances. * Wide Area--The wide area technologies are for long-range communication over larger geographic areas, often facilitated by SATCOM systems providing global coverage. * Narrowband--Narrowband technologies are for communication systems operating within a narrow frequency range, typically used for transmitting small amounts of data, such as text messages or basic voice communication. * Broadband--Broadband technologies are for high-speed data transmission allowing for transferring large amounts of data, enabling multimedia applications, video streaming, and high-quality voice communication. Examples include cellular networks, very-small-aperture-terminal (VSAT) systems, and dedicated maritime broadband services. Due to the small amount of data typically transmitted by near-range communication devices, such as those utilizing NFC, the required battery size is small, enabling extended battery life. It is possible to send larger amounts of data using other near-range communication protocols. The Wi-Fi system, for example, can deliver a large amount of data, but the Wi-Fi signal range is generally limited to 100 m from a single access point [12]. To cover larger areas, such as an ocean vessel, multiple access points or repeaters are often necessary for Wi-Fi deployment. Bluetooth technology, on the other hand, has the capability to establish communication over extended distances, particularly with the advancements in Bluetooth 5. However, it typically operates at slower data rates compared to Wi-Fi. It is worth noting that Bluetooth can be a suitable choice for certain applications, even though it may have slower data transfer speeds when compared to Wi-Fi. Mobile cellular communication is a potential wide-area technology for the transmission of large amounts of data over large geographical areas, which maritime communications can benefit from. Mobile cellular services generally have the capability to send and receive larger amounts of data compared to Wi-Fi. The exact data capacity and speed of mobile cellular networks depend on various factors, such as the specific generation of cellular technology (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G), network coverage, and available bandwidth. It is a licensed technology that requires mobile operators to obtain permission to operate a network within a specific geographical region. However, due to the higher power consumption of cellular technology, it can significantly impact the battery life of low-power devices. While there are other communication protocols that are capable of transmitting data over a wide area, they do suffer from low data rates and can typically only transmit kilobytes of information instead of megabytes. Among these protocols is the long range (LoRa) protocol.