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Ships fitted with AIS shall maintain AIS in operation at all times except where
international agreements, rules or standards provide for the protection of
navigational information.
Performance Standards
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Functions of AIS
AIS
Dynamic DATA
Functions of AIS
AIS
Dynamic DATA
How AIS Works ?
• A Broadcast system that acts like a
transponder, operating in the VHF maritime
band, that is capable of handling well over
4,500 reports per minute and updates as
often as every two seconds.
• It uses Self-Organizing Time Division
Multiple Access (SOTDMA) technology to
meet this high broadcast rate and ensure
reliable ship-to-ship cooperation.
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Components of AIS
AIS consists of :
• VHF Transceiver
• Display and Sensor System
• GPS/DGPS
• Interface with VTS
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AIS – uses and applications :
Collision avoidance
• Here AIS can provide additional information and awareness of the resources for
on scene operation, even though AIS range is limited to VHF radio range
Accident Investigation
• AIS information received by VTS is important for accident investigation to provide the accurate time,
identity, position by GPS, compass heading, course over ground (COG), Speed (by log/SOG) and rate of
• This helps in accident analysis, rather than from limited information (position, COG, SOG) of radar echo
by radar.
• The maneuvering information of the events of the accident is important to understand the actual
movement of the ship before accident, particularly for collision, grounding accidents.
Binary messages
• The Saint Lawrence Seaway uses AIS binary messages (message type 8) to provide
information about water levels, lock orders, and weather.
• The Panama Canal uses AIS type 8 messages to provide information about rain
along the canal and wind in the locks.
Computing & Networking
• Several computer programs have been created for use with AIS data. Some programs (such as
ShipPlotter and gnuais) use a computer to demodulate the raw audio from a modified marine
VHF radio telephone when tuned to the AIS broadcast frequency (Channel 87 & 88) into AIS
data.
• Some programs can re-transmit the AIS information to a local or global network allowing the
public or authorized users to observe vessel traffic from the Web.
What are the VHF Channels used ? AIS uses two frequencies in the Marine VHF band:
Channel 87 : 161.975 MHz and Channel 88 : 162.025 MHz.
All ships use both frequencies and successive message transmissions are
radiated on alternate channels.Professional AIS equipment monitors both
channels simultaneously. This doubles the channel capacity and also combats
interference.
Since all vessels transmit on same frequencies simultaneously , how is it possible to operate
without interference ?
The answer : TDMA technology.
“Time Division Multiple Access”
What is TDMA ?
On a given Frequency : Each minute of time is divided into 2250 slots of 26.67 milliseconds
each.
At 9.6 Kbps speed, each of these slots can handle 256 bits of data which is sufficient for one
AIS report. An exact timing signal of GPS is essential to synchronize time slots
When a ship’s AIS talks ( Digitally ) to another ship, first , it listens for and takes up an un-
occupied slot and it also reserves a time slot for its next contact. This is Self Organized
TDMA or SOTDMA.
• The key elements of SOTDMA operation are as follows:
• All stations share a common time reference (derived from GPS time) ensuring they can all
accurately determine the start time of each TDMA slot.
• Each data transmission includes indication of the TDMA slot that will be used by the
transmitting station for subsequent transmissions. This allows receiving stations to build up
a ‘map’ of which slots are in use by which station.
• Each station avoids slots known to be in use by other stations for its own transmissions. This
prevents two stations in range of one another using the same slot.
• As mobile stations move from one area to another they encounter new stations with
different slot allocations. This may cause the station to modify its own slot allocation leading
to a dynamic and self organising system over time and space.
Each time slot
represents
26.6
millisecons
The same
Ship A sends a
message in this procedure is
slot. It also repeated by
reserves one all other ships
slot for the next
message
Ship B
Ship C
Ship A
Example : A ship sailing at 23 kts updates its info every 2 seconds ( 30 times per minute )
and therefore reserves a second time slot which falls after 75 slots from its first slot
( 2250 / 30 = 75 ) and so on and so forth.
• In the event of system overload, targets further away will be subject to
an automatic drop-out, in order to give preference to nearer targets,
which are of greater concern to ship operators.
• Base Station
• Aids to Navigation ( A to N )
Class A : Vessel mounted AIS transceiver which
operates using SOTDMA transmissions.
Each AIS transponder consists of one VHF transmitter, two VHF TDMA
receivers, one VHF Digital Selective Calling (DSC) receiver, and links to
shipboard display and sensor systems via standard marine electronic
communications (such as NMEA 0183, also known as IEC 61162).
Characteristics :
- Transmits at 12W
- Range : 20 to 50 n.miles.
- Has an integrated display.
- interface capability with multiple ship systems
- a sophisticated selection of features
- Default transmit rate is every few seconds.
- Capability to receive all types of AIS messages.
Class A Broadcast information
An AIS transceiver sends the following data every 2 to 10 seconds depending on a
vessel's speed while underway, and every 3 minutes while a vessel is at anchor:
• The vessel's Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) – a unique nine digit
identification number.
• Navigation status – "at anchor", "under way using engine(s)", "not under
command", etc.
• "Speed over ground" – 0.1-knot resolution : from 0 to 102 knots (189 km/h)
• Position accuracy:
– Longitude – to 1/10000 minute
– Latitude – to 1/10000 minute
• "Course over ground" – relative to true north to 0.1 degree precision.
• Time stamp – UTC time accurate to the nearest second when these data were
generated
In addition, the following data are broadcast every 6 minutes:
• IMO ship identification number – a seven digit number that remains unchanged upon
transfer of the ship's registration to another country
• Radio call sign – international radio call sign, up to seven characters, assigned to the vessel
by its country of registry
• Type of ship/cargo
• Location of positioning system's (e.g. GPS) antenna onboard the vessel - in meters aft of
bow and meters port of starboard
Characteristics :
- transmits at 2W
- Range : 5 to 10 miles.
- are not required to have an integrated display,
- can be connected to most display systems on which the
received messages will be displayed in lists or overlayed on
charts.
- Default transmit rate is normally every 30 seconds, but this
can be varied according to vessel speed or instructions
from base stations.
Class B Broadcast information
In normal case, your ARPA derives a target’s COG and SOG from own
ship GPS data and the range and bearing to that target when it is visible
However, with an AIS, a target sends you its GPS position, COG and SOG
AIS has turned a VHF radio into a regular albeit somewhat slow
modem. It sends and receives data just like any other modem.
• It translates radar echoes into ship names (useful when hailing them on
VHF)
Knowing a target’s ROT improves the OOW’s ability to anticipate a traffic situation more
accurately:
The blue line represents the straight-line predicted path of the own ship making 12
knots on a true course of 110° and ..
With straight-line projection, the CPA of 0.4 NM will be reached in 4.8 minutes
( light blue line ).
Prediction with ROT :
Blue arc represents the predicted path of the own ship making 12 knots on
a true course of 110° and a ROT of +5° per minute (starboard).
The CPA is now only 380 feet after 7.9 minutes (light blue line).
How AIS extends radar’s range
• The extended range and target identification that AIS provides, allows the OOW
to identify other ships with a similar ETA to the same feature, even if they are
approaching it from the opposite side and are still some 40 NM away.
• This allows the OOW to anticipate a traffic situation earlier and make passing
arrangements well over an hour in advance via VHF, or, if the other ship is still
beyond VHF range, via an AIS instant message.
If a target is has limited maneuvering capabilities, for instance due to its draft,
AIS will provide such details too.
However, connecting an AIS to Radar can complicate matters as
follows :
• A target’s AIS position may be different from the position of its echo
on the radar screen
Accuracy of AIS positions
The OOW will know when an AIS target is no longer sending position
updates because its icon will be crossed-off with a flashing line.
If a target continues to send out AIS position updates but its GPS is
not working properly then the OOW can only find that out by
comparing AIS and radar positions (assuming it is clear which radar
and AIS icons are associated with each other).
Target Icon Consolidation
If a nearby ship shows both an AIS and a radar icon on your screen and the
two do not overlap then the software in the radar (or ECDIS) will try to decide
whether the two separate icons should be replaced with a single consolidated
bearing, relative course and relative speed. If they pass this test then the
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AIS Transmission Rate and Accuracy
• AIS accuracy is defined as the largest distance the ship can
cover between two updates
– The AIS broadcasts information with different rates of
updates depending on the ship’s current speed and
manoeuvre
– The IMO assumes that accuracy of embedded GPS is 10m
Time between
Vessel behaviour Accuracy (m)
updates
Anchored 3 min = 10 metres
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AIS Data
• Transmitted data include ship’s position and textual meta-
information
– Static: ID number (MMSI), IMO code, ship name and type,
dimensions
– Dynamic: Position (Long, Lat), speed, heading, course over ground
(COG), rate of turn (ROT)
– Route-based: Destination, danger, estimated time of arrival (ETA)
and draught
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