Active and passive sail for improved communication networking at sea

Abstract

Provided is a radar and communications enhanced sail for a sailboat, sail ship, or sail drone. The sail includes a first sail section comprising an active communication system, a second sail section comprising a passive communication system, or a combination thereof. The active communication system includes an antenna array (transceiver) and a software-defined radio (SDR), while the passive communication system comprises a reflective panel or sections and/or array of reflector panels or sections. The active system utilizes its SDR and transceiver to communicate back and forth with an onshore SDR and transceiver to provide information as necessary. The passive system receives a radar signal via the reflective material on the sail and reflects the signal back at the radar, which produces a radar cross section indicating that there is an object (in this case the sailboat) in the ocean.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.