System and method for decoding automatic identification system signals

A system for detecting and decoding Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals, the system comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive the plurality of AIS signals in space and pre-process the plurality of AIS signals to produce digital input data, the receiver being located on a satellite;
• a processing module configured to process the digital input data by correlating the digital input data with a plurality of predefined signals having different Doppler offsets to compute a plurality of corresponding correlation signals, identify one or more candidate AIS message signals based on the correlation signals, and determine a corresponding Doppler offset estimates and time estimates for the one or more candidate AIS message signals;
• a decoder configured to decode the one or more candidate AIS message signals to obtain corresponding message segments;
• and
• a validation module configured to validate the decoded message segments for proper AIS formatting.

A system for detecting and decoding Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals, the system comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive the plurality of AIS signals and pre-process the plurality of AIS signals to produce digital input data;
• and
• a processing unit configured to process the digital input data to identify one or more candidate AIS message signals based on Doppler offsets associated with the digital input data, determine corresponding Doppler offset estimates and time estimates of the one or more candidate AIS message signals;
• decode the one or more candidate AIS message signals to obtain corresponding message segments;
• and validate the decoded message segments for proper AIS formatting.