MAIN HEAD Interview: Dr Håkan Lans DECK HEAD Manufacturers of shipboard AIS systems are in battle with AIS inventor Dr Håkan Lans over payments of patent license fees. AIS expert Anders Bergstrom of True Heading interviewed him IMAGE Hakan Lans.jpg Think you have one of Anders Bergstrom from last issue if you want to use it ANDERS BERGSTROM - How do you believe AIS can best benefit the maritime community? DR LANS - Without doubt I believe the collision avoidance capability of AIS will be the main benefit for mariners. Eventually the alarm functionality of the system can be enhanced so that different alarms are given depending on the severity levels when collision risks occur. Maybe a connection to the autopilot will be made that automatically initiates an avoidance manoeuvre of the ship for collision avoidance. This could make almost all collisions disappear. AIS will have a more important role for security applications to check the identity of the person in charge, with a type of captain's smart card connected to the transponder. Ships not using AIS to identify themselves would then be known as a potential risk. In search and rescue, I believe that the system could be used for more than it is today since it would be a very useful tool. SUBHEAD AIS data ANDERS BERGSTROM - AIS have lately received some criticism related to operational problems. What's your opinion about that and how do you feel it could have been avoided? DR LANS - The interfacing of an external GPS into the transponder is completely unnecessary and it is just causing possibilities for errors. It would have been better to use the internal GPS in the AIS for positioning. Approved GPS receivers are today so good and the differences between different brands are of no significance for the accuracy. The problem of different geodetic datum's would also disappear since the AIS GPS receiver would be set for WGS84 as defined for the system. ANDERS BERGSTROM - Many believe that the AIS patent holder waived the rights for the transponders on SOLAS ships. DR LANS - I was called at 5:30 pm one evening in 1997 and told that there was a regulation that stated that equipment to be fitted mandatory on SOLAS ships could not be connected with a patent and license fees. I then asked what SOLAS ships meant and was told that it is special types of ships. I thought they were taking about rescue vessels and lifeboats. I also asked where this regulation could be found and was told that they would investigate this and let me know since nobody could tell me. I was pushed since the decision on which technology to be used was to be made the same evening. I told IALA that if a regulation that exempted SOLAS ships existed I did not see any reason why such a regulation should not be accepted. I was then told that if I signed the paper I would get this exemption rules as soon as they could be found. Yet, up to now I have not received them. We have since asked for a 5% license fee on the sales price to users. This 5% could be compared with the return a reseller gets which is usually 20-25%. It is important that the maritime sector supports and stimulates long term research and development projects that in the end will benefit and give a safer shipping industry and such investments must be honoured with a reasonable return on investment. SUBHEAD AIS licenses ANDERS BERGSTROM- Only a few of the existing AIS manufacturers [Nauticast, Saab TransponderTech, CNS, Filser] have a patent license. With current price competition on the market for AIS products they must suffer a severe disadvantage compared to the ones who are not paying a royalty. What are you doing to protect the companies who are paying the fee? DR LANS - Everyone who sells AIS equipment has to pay a patent license and there is actually a legal processes just starting. The people who believe it's good to argue, make trouble and not pay will in the end be legally forced to pay for sales during all these years plus interest. They will not get away. The general patent license fee is 10 % on the sales price to users but for all manufacturers that are signing an agreement voluntarily it is reduced to 5%. Companies that choose to go to a legal process will have to pay 10% (the double) plus interest. Many manufacturers want to solve the situation and they have agreed to arbitration which is something that we are fully supporting. This would mean that a decision is made on the subject matters in a court based on facts and presumably consensus. So a solution is not far away. Behind [patent holder shell company] GP&C stand a large number of investors and investment companies. The opponents have not realised that they are fighting against a much larger group. If people had some common sense they would see that all the investments that has gone into the development of this technology could not have been made without extensive resources. ANDERS BERGSTROM - Does the user of an AIS product [the shipowner] stand the chance of infringing on the patent rights? DR LANS If someone buys equipment that is covered by a patent and the manufacturer does not have a license to use it is considered similar to buying stolen goods. Many authorities and ship-owners are actually writing to GP&C requesting information about what manufacturers that has a patent license. SUBHEAD Class B ANDERS BERGSTROM - Is the patent applicable on AIS base stations and the proposed "Class B" AIS? DR LANS - It is the full system concept that is a covered by the patent. If we take for instance this CSTDMA [Carrier Sense Time Division Multiple Access, proposed to be used for class B] it is a part of the system as well and therefore it is within the patent. Additionally, CSTDMA seems to also be covered by several other patents. Using that technology would therefore require the manufacturers to have multiple licenses from GP&C as well as from the other patent holders. With STDMA it is only one from which a license would be required. I do not like to comment on whether CSTDMA or STDMA should be used since this should be up to IMO and IALA and those who drives the standardisation process to determine what methods they should use. If I should give a general advice the system that works best should be used. I do not understand how CSTDMA could be the preferred alternative since it was disregarded already in the early 1980's as a theoretically unsuitable technology mainly because of the limited capacity and that it did not meet reasonable reliability and integrity requirements. SUBHEAD Aviation ANDERS BERGSTROM - When do you see that STDMA technology will start to be used in the aviation sector as well? DR HANS - Not long ago Russia made a public statement that they have decided to use the VDL Mode 4 technology (as its called in the aviation sector) and it is starting to be deployed in Russia. This means that all airplanes flying over Russian territory will be required to have a VDL Mode 4 Transponder. In Europe there are also a number of projects that are deploying VDL Mode 4 infrastructure and installations in some aircraft are progressing quite fast. BOX TEXT To read a full version of Anders Bergstrom's interview with Hakan Lans, e-mail Mr Bergstrom on anders.bergstrom@trueheading.se.