CherSoft Secures Patent for ENC Compression
UK-based CherSoft has been granted patents from the Intellectual Property Office (UK) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its ENC compression mechanism. According to the company, there is a trend towards remote delivery of chart data and updates. Optimal use of the available bandwidth through the deployment of advanced compression technology is paramount.
ENC data is set to become ubiquitous in marine chart supply. With the mandatory ECDIS carriage requirements it seem likely that the majority of commercial vessels will be using ENCs by 2018.
Internet access for modern vessels is increasingly common but is generally slower, less reliable and more expensive than terrestrial broadband.
CherSoft has developed ENC compression techniques and algorithms over several years to promote the use of remote updating and to help drive down the costs of marine internet access. Typically the CherSoft approach can reduce the bandwidth requirements to 50% of that required by the standard S-63 and Zip transmittals.
