Towards a Maritime Radio Network Digital Twin for Predictive Connectivity and Autonomous Ship Operations in Singapore
Future maritime capabilities such as smart ships, remote pilotage, and drone-based surveillance rely on reliable wireless communication with onshore command and control systems. However, maritime wireless communication is often affected by the dynamic sea weather and vessel movements. Wireless connectivity therefore cannot be treated as an always reliable link. Rather, its variations must be integrated into maritime capability planning and operational design. This paper reports our ongoing work toward a Maritime Radio Network Digital Twin (RNDT) which enables a connectivity-aware maritime planning workflow. The workflow links capability and mission connectivity requirements such as coverage, throughput, and latency to measurement-backed evidence. It then translates that evidence into planning outputs such as predicted outage zones, cell handover windows, and connectivity-aware operating envelopes. We present preliminary field measurements and simulation-based modelling results to illustrate the approach. Overall, our work aims to establish the RNDT with closed validation loops and evidence-based analysis to support safe and scalable connected maritime operations.