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ZHANG Jing, HU Wenfei, ZHANG Qingyang, LI Changzhen, CHEN Mozi, CHEN Mengda. A Survey on Wireless Channel Characteristics for Intelligent Inland Shipping: Measurement and Modeling Techniques[J]. Journal of Transport Information and Safety, 2026, 44(1): 1-12. doi: 10.3963/j.jssn.1674-4861.2026.01.001
Citation: ZHANG Jing, HU Wenfei, ZHANG Qingyang, LI Changzhen, CHEN Mozi, CHEN Mengda. A Survey on Wireless Channel Characteristics for Intelligent Inland Shipping: Measurement and Modeling Techniques[J]. Journal of Transport Information and Safety, 2026, 44(1): 1-12. doi: 10.3963/j.jssn.1674-4861.2026.01.001
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A Survey on Wireless Channel Characteristics for Intelligent Inland Shipping: Measurement and Modeling Techniques

doi: 10.3963/j.jssn.1674-4861.2026.01.001
  • 1.

    Hubei Key Laboratory of Intelligent Vision Monitoring for Hydropower Engineering, Yichang 443002, China

  • 2.

    College of Computer and Information Technology, China Three Gorges University, Yichang 443002, China

  • 3.

    Yangtze River Yichang Communication Administration, Yichang 443002, China

  • 4.

    Wuhan University of Technology, School of Information Engineering, Wuhan 430063, China

  • 5.

    Wuhan University of Technology, School of Navigation, Wuhan 430063, China

  • 6.

    State Key Laboratory of Maritime Technology and Safety, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China

  • 7.

    Wuhan University of Technology, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Energy Power Engineering, Wuhan 430063, China

  • Received Date: 2025-09-02
    Available Online: 2026-08-28
    Abstract
  • As intelligent shipping systems continue to develop rapidly, efficient and reliable wireless communications become one of the key enabling technologies for supporting vessel state sensing, waterway environmental monitoring, and collaborative operations. Based on the existing body of research, this paper reviews recent advances in wireless channel characterization for intelligent inland shipping and highlights the unique challenges that distinguish inland waterways from terrestrial and near-shore environments, including corridor-like wide-area coverage induced by complex land-water mixed topologies, navigation environments and natural conditions, and dense man-made structures (e.g., bridges) and other obstructions. Representative inland waterways worldwide are examined, and by analyzing the adaptability bottlenecks of current communication technologies in inland scenarios, it is shown that conventional channel models cannot accurately capture the propagation mechanisms specific to inland waterways. The review focuses on two core aspects: channel measurement and channel modeling, while also summarizing differences across typical frequency bands and waterway segments, comparing the applicability boundaries of statistical and geometry-based modeling approaches, and outlining key procedures for parameter acquisition and validation to inform future research. On the measurement side, three major characteristics are identified, namely the sparsity of air-space-water links, the instability caused by vessel motion, and evaporation-duct effects; the limitations of existing measurement schemes are then discussed in terms of dynamic trajectory tracking, localized meteorological coupling, and high-resolution capture of non-line-of-sight paths. On the modeling side, large-scale and small-scale fading models applicable to inland environments are reviewed, and the limitations of existing models in finely characterizing the coupled dynamics of vessel-induced motion and time-varying water-surface reflections, as well as constrained scenarios such as bridge canyons, are emphasized. Finally, building a highly reliable communication network with full-coverage capability for inland waterways calls for breakthroughs in environment-driven high-fidelity channel modeling, multi-band propagation mechanism analysis, and the design of coordinated "shore-ship-cloud" architectures.

     

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