Dualog Drive - Carrier Detection

INTRODUCTION

When properly configured, the Link Platform has the capability to identify the currently active communication carrier. This information about active carriers can then be utilized by other services to determine which data can be transmitted. Carrier Detection operates by employing Firewall rules to recognize the active carriers.

To enable Dualog Drive to benefit from Carrier Detection, it's essential to establish the carriers that each task is permitted to utilize for sending data.

This is described in section 2.

1. 1 - FIREWALL CONFIGURATION

To be able to use Carrier Detection, the Firewall/Ship Gateway must be configured to block/allow certain IP addresses and ports for each carrier connected to the Firewall. Please refer to Firewall documentation to find how to configure blocking rules.

For each IP carrier available, open/block rules must be configured according to the configuration set. For each carrier, a unique IP/port combination must be open. The same IP/port combination must be blocked for all other carriers.

Example:

Three IP carriers, 4G, VSAT and FBB are available onboard a ship. The Carrier Detection configuration will automatically set which port to enable for each carrier.

The carrier detection on the vessel will then try to connect to 93.188.232.188 on these ports. If it is successful on port 61012 and at the same time unsuccessful on the other ports it will determine that the current carrier is “VSAT”.

2. 1 - ENABLING CARRIER DETECTION

Carrier Detection is configured on the organization level by setting up ship carriers.

• Upon logging in to the Apps portal, click on the menu located in the top left corner > organization > scroll down to the Ship Carriers section:

The recommended procedure to set up Ship carriers for your organization is to add all carriers in one go. Before starting, you should know all carriers available in your fleet. Still, more carriers can be added at a later stage.

2.2 - CARRIER CONFIGURATION

1. Select “Set up carrier” to open the window below
2. Select the type of carrier and give it a recognizable name (Could be the same as the type, but if you have multiple carriers of the same type, find a unique name, like VSAT 1 MB).
3. Select "set up carrier" to save the configuration

4. After specifying the carrier and carrier name, you can select ship(s) having this carrier type.

5. Click on the "Connect to ships" button and let the Digital Platform perform the carrier-ship association.
6. You will now notice that the configured carrier is visible under the "Ship Carriers" section of the Dualog Digital Platform.

7. Repeat the same process for the rest of the carriers used in your fleet. Adding carriers to ships can also be done at a later stage.

2.3 - ASSIGNING A CARRIER TO VESSEL(S)

There are two ways to add carriers. Be aware that IP addresses and ports are dummy values.

Note: This is the port that the carrier will use to connect to the Dualog shore servers and will be unique for that specific carrier.

• Changes to the carrier name and gateway port can be made on this menu. Keep in mind that while each carrier will be given a specific shore port, the ports utilized by other carriers won't be displayed in the drop-down list.
• It will also be allowed to add or remove ships from the list of equipped carrier vessels from this menu. To save any changes you make, don't forget to click the "Save Changes" option at the bottom of the menu.

Alternatively, you can assign a carrier to a vessel under organization > Ships > Select a ship.

• From this window, the IP port can also be changed by selecting the ship, and then the carriers on this ship. (Make sure that the changed configuration is reflected in the Firewall configuration.)