Compound compensation strategies for wireless data communicationsover the multimodal acoustic ocean waveguide

Underwater acoustic communications (UAC) at the reverberation-limited range results in severely distorted information signals. Wide-band signals are subject to both intermodal and intramodal-type of dispersions. The underwater acoustic channel impulse response and the sidelobes strongly depend on the waveguide structure and the source and receiver positions. The motion and displacement from this position, as well as other environmental variabilities impose a real-time adaptivity for the receiver operation to keep track of the fluctuations. To increase the system's reliability and data rate, there is a need to employ adaptive equalizers and diversity techniques to improve the margins against noise, and intersymbol interference (ISI). Blind adaptive equalization (BAE) is the ideal adaptive compensation when operating point-to-multipoint networks, and centralized communication systems in general. Inherent optimum multiple resonant modes within the ocean acoustic waveguide can be exploited judiciously via a new proposed parallel data multicarrier modulation (MCM) scheme by sending data over the multiple subcarriers. MCM might eventually obviate equalization which introduces higher-order computational complexity to the receiver. The above modulation eliminates multipaths and allows operation at multiples of the single-carrier transmission rate. The system's immunity to distortions such as ISI, fast fades, and impulsive noises, is increased due to incorporation of symbol guard space. Direct comparisons with single carrier schemes (such as higher-order statistics (HOS)-based equalization) are of great interest, since the proposed new receiver configuration has low-complexity to provide a compact, portable and low-power practical acoustic modem. Finally, network topology issues are considered to determine optimum network architectures for underwater acoustic LANs. A central topology (CT) supported by BAE and MCM transmission is proposed     

Exploiting phase fluctuations to improve temporal coherence

A special-purpose definition is proposed for phase fluctuations to overcome the obstacle of unpredictable dynamic changes in the phase angle. This definition implies a specific time history for each phase sample and any deviation is termed a phase fluctuation. Its application to acoustic data led to the development of a technique for temporally aligning the phase angles of the acoustic pressure phasors. This alignment process transforms the signal phasors to the real half-space of a rotated complex plane, while the corresponding noise is distributed with random phase angles. Signal processing conducted in the rotated plane improves the temporal coherence of the signals without significantly altering the incoherence of the noise. Coherent attenuation and cancellation of signals is common with temporal coherence and vector averaging. These were eliminated when the aligned-phase angles were substituted for the original unaligned phase angles. Thus, the transformation produces a net temporal coherence gain. Furthermore, it significantly improves the robustness of the signal processor to source and receiver motion. An automatic identifier of signals in the transformed plane also is introduced. Signal identification is based on aligned-phase angle temporal coherence, which significantly improves identification of signals. Results are included for both ocean and atmosphere acoustic data.     

涉海工程水下冲击打桩噪声测量方法研究

随着海洋、湖泊、河流和港口等人类活动逐渐增加,涉海工程产生的水下噪声污染及对海洋生物影响已引起广泛关注。工程建设期环境影响评价中,水下噪声测量逐渐成为海洋监管的要素。水下冲击打桩是工程建设中常见的低频水下脉冲声源,能够传播较远距离。如何规范地开展水下冲击打桩噪声测量至关重要。文章给出了水下冲击打桩噪声的通用测量方法,包括声学指标、测量系统、测量布放、声学测量配置、测量不确定性等,可为海洋工程建设影响评价、海洋生物生态保护等提供技术支撑。     

Channel Modeling and Threshold Signal Processing in Underwater Acoustics: An Analytical Overview

An overview of underwater acoustic channel modeling and threshold signal processing is presented, which emphasizes the inhomogeneous, random, and non-Ganssian nature of the generalized channel, combined with appropriate weak-signal detection and estimation. Principal attention is given to the formal structuring of the scattered and ambient acoustic noise fields, as well as that of the desired signal, including both fading and Doppler "smear" phenomena. The role of general receiving arrays is noted, as well as their impact on spatial and temporal signal processing and beam forming, as indicated by various performance measures in detection and estimation. The emphasis here is on limiting optimum threshold systems, with some attention to suboptimum cases. Specific first-order probability density functions (pdf's) for the non-Ganssian components of typical underwater acoustic noise environments are included along with their field covariances. Several examples incorporating these pdf's are given, to illustrate the applications and general methods involved. The fundamental role of the detector structure in determining the associated optimum estimators is noted: the estimators arc specific linear or nonlinear functionals of the original optimum detector algorithm, depending on the criterion (i.e., minimization of the chosen error or cost function) selected. Results for both coherent and incoherent modes of reception are presented, reflecting the fact that frequently signal epoch is not known initially at the receiver. To supplement the general discussion, a selected list of references is included, to provide direct access to specific detailed problems, techniques, and results, for which the present paper is only a guide.     

Spatial modulation experiments in the underwater acoustic channel

A modulation technique for increasing the reliable data rate achievable by an underwater acoustic communication system is presented and demonstrated. The technique, termed spatial modulation, seeks to control the spatial distribution of signal energy such that the single physical ocean channel supports multiple parallel communication channels. Given a signal energy constraint, a communication architecture with access to parallel channels will have increased capacity and reliability as compared to one with access to a single channel. Results from two experiments demonstrate higher obtainable data rates and power throughput for a system employing spatial modulation than for one that does not. The demonstrated benefits were characterized by an equivalent SNR gain of over 5 dB in the first experiment. In the second experiment, using two element source and receiver arrays with apertures of 0.9 m, a coherently modulated signal was shown to offer nearly 50% greater capacity by using spatial modulation than by using temporal modulation alone.     

Signal detection for communications in the underwater acousticenvironment

Signal detection is a critical stage in the implementation of any effective communications system. The underwater acoustic environment, particularly in the presence of underwater vehicles, presents significant challenges to reliable detection without excessive false alarms. While there is often sufficient signal-to-noise ratio with respect to stationary broad-band background noise to permit reliable operation, the presence of strong event-like interference signals such as narrow-band signals and impulsive broad-band signals complicates the detection problem significantly. Frequency-hopped signals interleaved with quiescent bands are proposed as the basis of a robust detection system. These signals also make robust detection possible in a multi-access communications system. Two new detection algorithms that exploit the particular structure of these frequency-hopped signals are developed and their performance is analyzed. This analysis uses a modification of the doubly noncentral F-distribution that has not been used previously for such analysis. This distribution makes possible the direct calculation of probabilities of detection and false-alarm under interference and signal scenarios that cannot be analyzed using the better known noncentral F-distribution. With this analysis, the two developed detectors are shown to offer superior performance to that of either the CFAR detector or the binary data sequence detector. Experimental data confirms the theoretically derived results     

Underwater acoustic channel models for 4800 b/s QPSK signals

Two computer models are presented, one for short-range and one for long-range propagation of acoustic signals through an underwater channel from a transmitter to a receiver. In the short-range model, the received signal is due to a direct path (steady component) and a random path (diffused component) that could be the result of boundary scattering. For the long-range case, the received signal is the superposition of a number of time-delayed, randomly propagated components arriving by different paths. Both models assume perfect transmitter-receiver synchronization but use realistic channel time delays. They demonstrate the time-varying characteristics of underwater acoustic channels and are used in simulations to evaluate the performance of the detection technique     

Deep-water acoustic coherence at long ranges: theoreticalprediction and effects on large-array signal processing

This paper presents results of combined consideration of sound coherence and array signal processing in long-range deep-water environments. Theoretical evaluation of the acoustic signal mutual coherence function (MCF) of space for a given sound-speed profile and particular scattering mechanism is provided. The predictions of the MCF are employed as input data to investigate the coherence-induced effects on the horizontal and vertical array gains associated with linear and quadratic beamformers with emphasis on the optimal ones. A method of the radiation transport equation is developed to calculate the MCF of the multimode signal under the assumption that internal waves or surface wind waves are the main source of long-range acoustic fluctuations in a deep-water channel. Basic formulations of the array weight vectors and small signal deflection are then exploited to examine optimal linear and quadratic processors in comparison with plane-wave beamformers. For vertical arrays, particular attention is paid also to evaluation of the ambient modal noise factor. The numerical simulations are carried out for range-independent environments from the Northwest Pacific for a sound frequency of 250 Hz and distances up to 1000 km. It was shown distinctly that both signal coherence degradation and modal noise affect large-array gain, and these effects are substantially dependent on the processing technique used. Rough surface sound scattering was determined to cause the most significant effects     

Precoding Based Channel Prediction for Underwater Acoustic OFDM

The life duration of underwater cooperative network has been the hot topic in recent years. And the problem of node energy consuming is the key technology to maintain the energy balance among all nodes. To ensure energy efficiency of some special nodes and obtain a longer lifetime of the underwater cooperative network, this paper focuses on adopting precoding strategy to preprocess the signal at the transmitter and simplify the receiver structure. Meanwhile, it takes into account the presence of Doppler shifts and long feedback transmission delay in an underwater acoustic communication system. Precoding technique is applied based on channel prediction to realize energy saving and improve system performance. Different precoding methods are compared. Simulated results and experimental results show that the proposed scheme has a better performance, and it can provide a simple receiver and realize energy saving for some special nodes in a cooperative communication.     

Digital underwater acoustic voice communications

This paper describes the design of an underwater acoustic diver communication system controlled by a digital signal processor. The speech signal transmission rate is compressed by using linear predictive coding (LPC) and the extracted parameters are transmitted through the water to a synchronized receiver by employing digital pulse position modulation (DPPM). The pulse position in each time frame is estimated by an energy detection and decision algorithm which enables the received LPC parameters to be recovered and used to synthesize the speech signal     

一种低功耗海洋定位信标的研制与应用

研制了一种低功耗的定位信标，用于长期服役于水下的海洋仪器回收出水后的定位搜寻工作。信标基于GPS射频组件开发，与仪器固定在一起，待整体浮出水面后，会启动位置信号发送程序，通过电信网络，将该信标的实时位置发送至终端。经测试表明，信标性能可靠，可为海洋仪器的安全工作和顺利回收提供保障。     

Adaptive multiuser detection for underwater acoustical channels

An underwater acoustic local area network (ALAN) provides multipoint-to-point telemetry between many high-rate, ocean-bottom sensors and a central, surface-deployed receiver in the 10-30 kHz vertical acoustical channel. Ocean-bottom modems initiate the transmission process by requesting data channel time slots via a common narrow-band request channel. Request packets overlap in time and frequency in this channel, and the throughput and average transmission delay rely heavily on the successful resolution of the request packet collisions. This paper presents the design, analysis, and experimental demonstration of a request channel receiver capable of resolving collisions between several asynchronous and cochannel packets. The receiver algorithm differs from standard capture schemes (by demodulating the data from both strong and weak transmitters), conventional spread-spectrum receivers (by overcoming the near-far problem), and existing multiple-access demodulation techniques (by adapting to the number of interfering signals, and the unknown phase, Doppler, amplitude, and timing of each signal in the collision). The receiver demodulates the collided packets by decision-directed techniques through a novel method of estimating the interference for each user which minimizes error propagation due to inaccurate tentative decisions. An inwater experiment illustrates that this technique is extremely desirable for collision resolution in underwater acoustic local area networks, and also for underwater autonomous vehicles with both sidescan sonar as well as acoustic telemetry links     

水声数据通信系统研究

提出一种基于并行传输体制的水声数据通信系统设计方案,发射端采用纠错能力很强的级联码和MFSK调制,分集技术采用抑制载波的双边带调制方式,接收端对接收信号利用快速频谱分析进行解调,并进行硬判决Viterbi译码和BM迭代译码。实验表明,该水声数据通信系统的传输波特率为200bits/s。误码率达到10^-5～10^-6以下。     

一个水声扩频通信系统设计与实现

严重的多途衰落、多普勒频偏是水声通信中引起误码的主要原因。低功耗、远距离、高隐蔽性、低信噪比检测、高可靠性的数据传输是水声通信的一个发展方向。设计并实现了一个水声扩频通信系统,有效地解决了以上问题,并采用快速相关算法,代替传统的矢量与矩阵相乘运算,极大地减少了程序的运行量,从而实时地处理接收信号。通过湖试和海试,验证了此通信系统的优良性能。     

Multichannel processing of broad-band multiuser communicationsignals in shallow water acoustic channels

High-throughout multiple-access communication networks are being considered for use in underwater acoustic channels. Bandwidth limitations of underwater acoustic channels require receivers to process broad-band communications signals in the presence of several active users. To deal with the resulting multiple-access interference in addition to high intersymbol interference, the spatial variability of ocean multipath is exploited in a multichannel multiuser receiver. Two configurations of such a receiver, a centralized and a decentralized one, are presented in fully adaptive modes of operations. While greatly reducing intersymbol and multiple-access interference, spatial diversity implies high increase in adaptive multiuser receiver complexity. To reduce the complexity of the optimal multichannel combiner, spatial structure of multipath is exploited. The complexity of resulting adaptive decentralized multichannel multiuser receiver is reduced at almost no cost in performance. Comparison of proposed multichannel receivers in an experimental shallow water channel demonstrates superior performance of spatial signal combining. The use of multiple input channels is shown to provide high level of tolerance for the near-far effect in both centralized and decentralized receivers. Decentralized receiver with reduced-complexity combining is found to satisfy the performance/complexity trade-off required for practical receiver realization in shallow water networks     

Temporal resolutions of time-reversal and passive-phase conjugation for underwater acoustic communications

In this paper, we study the temporal resolution of a time-reversal or passive-phase conjugation process as applied to underwater acoustic communications. Specifically, we address 1) the time resolution or the pulse width of a back-propagated time-compressed pulse as compared with the original transmitted pulse; 2) the effectiveness of temporal focusing as measured by the peak-to-sidelobe ratio of the back-propagated or phase-conjugated pulse (both pulse elongation and sidelobe leakages are causes of intersymbol interference and bit errors for communications); 3) the duration of temporal focusing or the temporal coherence time of the underwater acoustic channel; and 4) the stability of temporal focusing as measured by the phase fluctuations of successive pulses (symbols). Binary phase-shift keying signals collected at sea from a fixed source to a fixed receiver are used to extract the above four parameters and are compared with simulated results. Mid-frequency (3-4-kHz) data were collected in a dynamic shallow-water environment, exhibiting high temporal fluctuations over a scale of minutes. Despite this, the channel is found to be highly coherent over a length of 17 s. As a result, only one probe signal is used for 17 s of data. The bit error rate and variance of the symbol phase fluctuations are measured as a function of the number of receivers. They are of the same order as that calculated from the simulated data. The agreement suggests that these two quantities could be modeled for a communication channel with high coherence time. The phase variance can be used to determine the maximum data rate for a phase-shift keying signal for a given signal bandwidth and a given number of receivers.     

The range-averaged intensity model: a tool for underwater acousticfield analysis

The range-averaged intensity model (RAIM) long known as a powerful method for transmission loss estimation in waveguides, is extended to other aspects of the acoustic field: impulse response and angular pattern estimations at a receiver, general time spreading in a waveguide, signal fluctuations, reverberation levels, and ambient noise structure. An example of its application to a SOFAR propagation and detection case is presented. This method appears to be a very efficient and reliable analysis tool for many underwater acoustics configurations: particularly long-range horizontal telemetry and shallow-water sonar     

浅海声信道信号时间相关特性研究

水声信道中信号的时间相关特性是水声微弱信号相关检测的理论基础和具体参数选择依据。文中以厦门港典型的浅海声信道中信号的时间自相关和互相关特性进行实验研究。结果指出,信号有强的时间相关性,无论自相关或互相关性均比海洋环境噪声强得多,因此在水声信道中采用时间相关检测可望达到优良的抗噪声效果。     

Analysis of EMD algorithm for identification and extraction of an acoustic signal in underwater channel against wind driven ambient noise

Sonar generated acoustic signals transmitted in underwater channel for distant communications are affected by numerous factors like ambient noise, making them nonlinear and non-stationary in nature. In recent years, the application of Empirical Mode Decomposition （EMD） technique to analyze nonlinear and non-stationary signals has gained much attention. It is an empirical approach to decompose a signal into a set of oscillatory modes known as intrinsic mode functions （IMFs）. In general, Hilbert transform is used in EMD for the identification of oscillatory signals. In this paper anew EMD algorithm is proposed using FFT to identify and extract the acoustic signals available in the underwater channel that are corrupted due to various ambient noises over a range of 100 Hz to 10 kHz in a shallow water region.Data for analysis are collected at a depth of 5 m and 10 m offshore Chennai at the Bay of Bengal. The algorithm is validated for different sets of known and unknown reference signals. It is observed that the proposed EMD algorithmidentifies and extracts the reference signals against various ambient noises. Significant SNR improvement is alsoachieved for underwater acoustic signals.     

A statistical theory of signal coherence

A periodic signal can be perfectly predicted far into the future since it perfectly repeats every period. There is always some variation in the waveform over time for signals which are labeled as periodic but which are not truly deterministic. A formal definition is presented in this paper for such a varying periodic signal and the properties of such a class of signals are exploited. A measure called a signal coherence function of the amount of random variation in each Fourier component of the signal is defined and its statistical properties are developed. This signal coherence function is very different from the coherence function between two stationary signals. The method is applied to a digitized record of an acoustic signal generated by a boat in a bag in the Baltic Sea south of Stockholm, Sweden