Automatic Identification System Simulator for Marine Applications

Abstract

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is one of the most successful maritime technologies which allows ships to autonomously communicate their positions and movements with one another, thereby playing a crucial role in collision avoidance. AIS is essentially a communication system that identifies and exchanges information such as the MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identities) number, navigation status, rate of turn, speed over ground, course, position, and etc with other maritime vessels and base stations. This paper aims at the development and implementation of a simulator that simulates AIS communication based on AIS standards, i.e., capturing the necessary AIS messages and displaying them on the chart plotters or live maps.