Abstract:
With the advancement of global ocean development and utilization, marine buoys, as key ocean observation devices, play a critical role in marine monitoring, weather forecasting, and ocean resource development. However, marine buoys are typically deployed far from land, facing numerous challenges such as long-distance data transmission and equipment power consumption limitations. Traditional satellite communication technologies provide reliable communication for offshore buoys, while the development of 5G technology offers new opportunities for nearshore buoys. With the rapid advancement of IoT technology, modern low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies such as LoRa, Sigfox, and NB-IoT have gradually become important choices for wireless communication in marine buoys. Meanwhile, emerging low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation technologies provide global communication support for marine buoys, particularly excelling in ultra-long-distance and deep-sea environments. This paper reviews the current low-power wireless communication technologies applicable to marine buoys, focusing on the application prospects and technological challenges of LPWAN, 5G, and low Earth orbit satellite communication, and proposes future development directions, aiming to provide valuable references for the advancement of marine buoy communication systems.