Customer: EU, DG XIII

Duration: September 1998 – August 2000

The project aims at:
COMMAN aims at the production and validation of a communication manager system for maritime communication bearers and protocols currently in use and expected in the near future to result in a single data node functionality from the point of view of the operators aboard and ashore. This is not only to reduce error rate, congestion and delay problems of current communication but also to deal with the expected drastic increase of maritime data communication from radio transporders, DGPS correction service, ECDIS data bases and updating, remote login into ship borne automation system for diagnosis and maintenance and multi-media applications.
The project strategy is to base the communication manager system as far as possible on already available commercially off the shelf products and minimise additionally required hard-and software. To support successful exploitation, in short term after project completion, the end product must become an add-on to the available range of commercial systems in use and not requiring replacement of such equipment.
In line with the process in Europe for developing a third generation Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), the project is also intending to validate proposed candidate technologies for seamless integration of all the functions currently, or in short term, provided by different bearers and protocols under a single communication system.
The telematics test site in the southern approaches of the UK, ideally equipped with all ranges of shore and ship stations using all relevant communication bearers and services, will be used for validation under real operational conditions.

Role of TREDIT:
– Validation and quality assurance
– Participation in the cost benefit analysis