Multicarrier Communication Over Underwater Acoustic Channels With Nonuniform Doppler Shifts

Underwater acoustic (UWA) channels are wideband in nature due to the small ratio of the carrier frequency to the signal bandwidth, which introduces frequency-dependent Doppler shifts. In this paper, we treat the channel as having a common Doppler scaling factor on all propagation paths, and propose a two-step approach to mitigating the Doppler effect: 1) nonuniform Doppler compensation via resampling that converts a “wideband” problem into a “narrowband” problem and 2) high-resolution uniform compensation of the residual Doppler. We focus on zero-padded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) to minimize the transmission power. Null subcarriers are used to facilitate Doppler compensation, and pilot subcarriers are used for channel estimation. The receiver is based on block-by-block processing, and does not rely on channel dependence across OFDM blocks; thus, it is suitable for fast-varying UWA channels. The data from two shallow-water experiments near Woods Hole, MA, are used to demonstrate the receiver performance. Excellent performance results are obtained even when the transmitter and the receiver are moving at a relative speed of up to 10 kn, at which the Doppler shifts are greater than the OFDM subcarrier spacing. These results suggest that OFDM is a viable option for high-rate communications over wideband UWA channels with nonuniform Doppler shifts.      

Recent advances in high-speed underwater acoustic communications

In recent years, underwater acoustic (UWA) communications have received much attention as their applications have begun to shift from military toward commercial. Digital communications through UWA channels differ substantially from those in other media, such as radio channels, due to severe signal degradations caused by multipath propagation and high temporal and spatial variability of the channel conditions. The design of underwater acoustic communication systems has until recently relied on the use of noncoherent modulation techniques. However, to achieve high data rates on the severely band-limited UWA channels, bandwidth-efficient modulation techniques must be considered, together with array processing for exploitation of spatial multipath diversity. The new generation of underwater communication systems, employing phase-coherent modulation techniques, has a potential of achieving at least an order of magnitude increase in data throughput. The emerging communication scenario in which the modern underwater acoustic systems mill operate is that of an underwater network consisting of stationary and mobile nodes. Current research focuses on the development of efficient signal processing algorithms, multiuser communications in the presence of interference, and design of efficient modulation and coding schemes. This paper presents a review of recent results and research problems in high-speed underwater acoustic communications, focusing on the bandwidth-efficient phase-coherent methods. Experimental results are included to illustrate the state-of-the-art coherent detection of digital signals transmitted at 30 and 40 kb/s through a rapidly varying one-mile shallow water channel     

A Variable-Rate Spread-Spectrum System for Underwater Acoustic Communications

A key research area in underwater acoustic (UWA) communication is the development of advanced modulation and detection schemes for improved performance and range-rate product. In this communication, we propose a variable-rate underwater data transmission system based on direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) and complementary code keying (CCK), particularly for shallow-water acoustic channels with severe multipath propagation. We provide a suboptimum receiver that consists of a bidirectional decision feedback equalizer (BiDFE) to cancel both postcursor and precursor intersymbol interference (ISI). We also develop iterative signal processing and time-reversal (TR) diversity processing to mitigate the effect of error propagation in BiDFE. We present performance analysis on bit error rate (BER) for different data rates. Our works show that this new variable-data-rate DSSS-CCK is a suitable candidate for UWA communications over varying channel conditions and distance.      

Multiuser Communications Using Passive Time Reversal

A recent paper (Song , IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 170-178, 2006) demonstrated multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) communications in shallow water using active time reversal where the time reversal array (i.e., base station) sent different messages to multiple users simultaneously over a common bandwidth channel. Passive time reversal essentially is equivalent to active time reversal with the communications link being in the opposite direction. This paper describes passive time reversal communications which enables multiple users to send information simultaneously to the time reversal array. Experimental results at 3.5 kHz with a 1-kHz bandwidth demonstrate that as many as six users can transmit information over a 4-km range in a 120-m-deep water using quaternary phase-shift keying (QPSK) modulation, achieving an aggregate data rate of 6 kb/s. Moreover, the same data rate has been achieved at 20-km range by three users using 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM).     

An Iterative Equalization and Decoding Approach for Underwater Acoustic Communication

In this paper, we present an iterative approach for recovering information sent over a shallow underwater acoustic (UWA) communication channel. The procedure has three main tasks: estimation of channel model parameters (CMPs), channel equalization, and decoding. These tasks are performed cyclicly until the algorithm converges. Information bits are convolutionally encoded, punctured and permuted, mapped into quaternary phase-shift keying (QPSK) symbols, linearly modulated, and transmitted through a downward-refracting ocean waveguide. Training symbols are prepended to the transmitted sequence for initial estimation of CMPs. Our algorithm processes data from a single receive sensor. Data are received on a vertical array and the performance of the algorithm for each sensor in the array is examined. There is negligible Doppler spread in the received data. However, difference between transmitter and receiver clocks as well as slight motion of the receive array produce a nonnegligible compression of the received signals. Consequently, there is observable Doppler “shift.” Nonuniform resampling of the data produces time series we model as the output of a linear time-invariant system. Resampling and CMP estimation are done iteratively, in conjunction with equalization and decoding. The algorithm successfully processes the data to yield few or no information bit errors.      

Underwater acoustic networks

With the advances in acoustic modem technology that enabled high-rate reliable communications, current research focuses on communication between various remote instruments within a network environment. Underwater acoustic (UWA) networks are generally formed by acoustically connected ocean-bottom sensors, autonomous underwater vehicles, and a surface station, which provides a link to an on-shore control center. While many applications require long-term monitoring of the deployment area, the battery-powered network nodes limit the lifetime of UWA networks. In addition, shallow-water acoustic channel characteristics, such as low available bandwidth, highly varying multipath, and large propagation delays, restrict the efficiency of UWA networks. Within such an environment, designing an UWA network that maximizes throughput and reliability while minimizing the power consumption becomes a very difficult task. The goal of this paper is to survey the existing network technology and its applicability to underwater acoustic channels. In addition, we present a shallow-water acoustic network example and outline some future research directions     

MIMO Underwater Acoustic Communication in Shallow Water with Ice Cover

Although multiple-input multiple-output(MIMO) underwater acoustic(UWA) communication has been intensively investigated in the past years, existing works mainly focus on open-water environment. There is no work reporting MIMO acoustic communication in under-ice environment. This paper presents results from a recent MIMO acoustic communication experiment which was conducted in Bohai Gulf during winter. In this experiment, high frequency MIMO signals centered at 10 kHz were transmitted from a two-element source array to a four-element vertical receiving array at 1 km range. According to the received signal of different array elements, MIMO acoustic communication in under-ice environment suffers less effect from co-channel interference compared with that in open-water environment. In this paper, time reversal followed by a single channel decision feedback equalizer is used to process the experimental data. It is demonstrated that this simple receiver is capable of realizing robust performance using fewer hydrophones(i.e. 2) without the explicit use of complex co-channel interference cancelation algorithms, such as parallel interference cancelation or serial interference cancelation.     

Performance Enhancement of Multiuser Passive Time Reversal Communication Based on Space-Time Block Coding

Reliable,with high data rate,acoustic communication in time-varying,multipath shallow water environment is a hot research topic recently.Passive time reversal communication has shown promising results in improvement of the system performance.In multiuser environment,the system performance is significantly degraded due to the interference among different users.Passive time reversal can reduce such interference by minimizing the cross-correlated version of channel impulse response among users,which can be realized by the well-separated users in depth.But this method also has its shortcomings,even with the absence of relative motion,the minimization sometimes may be impossible because of the time-varying environment.Therefore in order to avoid the limitation of minimizing the cross-correlated channel function,an approach of passive time reversal based on space-time block coding (STBC) is presented in this paper.In addition,a single channel equalizer is used as a post processing technique to reduce the residual symbol interference.Experimental results at 13 kHz with 2 kHz bandwidth demonstrate that this method has better performance to decrease bit error rate and improve signal to noise ratio,compared with passive time reversal alone or passive time reversal combined with equalization.     

“BASS 300 PARACOM”: a “model” underwaterparametric communication system

Parametric transduction offers valuable advantages for underwater acoustic communications. Perhaps the most significant benefit is the fact that high directivity is achieved by means of a physically small transmit transducer. This feature may, ultimately, be employed to permit long-range, low-frequency communication using a compact source. The high directivity is desirable to combat multipath propagation and to achieve data communications in water which is shallow by comparison with range. A real-time, high data-rate “model” differential phase shift keying (DPSK) communication system has been constructed and demonstrated. This system uses parametric transduction, with a 300-kHz primary frequency and a 50-kHz secondary frequency. Experimental results show that the system can be employed to combat multipath propagation in shallow water and can achieve high data-rate text and color image transmission at 10 and 20 kb s^-1 for 2-DPSK and 4-DPSK, respectively, through a transmission bandwidth of 10 kHz. The “model” system was developed to confirm performance predictions for a future, operational long-range link employing a 50-kHz primary frequency and a 5-kHz secondary frequency     

Multiple-input-multiple-output coherent time reversal communications in a shallow-water acoustic channel

A recent time reversal (TR) experiment demonstrated that multiple foci can be projected from an array of sources to the same range but at different depths. This multiple input/multiple output process can potentially increase the information data rate. This paper presents experimental results of coherent TR communications (binary phase-shift keying, quaternary phase-shift keying, and 8-quadratic-amplitude modulation) at 3.5 kHz with a 1-kHz bandwidth where different messages were sent simultaneously to either two or three different depths at an 8.6-km range in a 105-m-deep water.     

水下数据传输Turbo码译码系统的实现

为了在恶劣的水声信道中确保数据的可靠传输,采用性能优异的Turbo码,以6711DSP为核心处理单元构建译码系统。系统采用戈泽尔算法进行跳频的软解调,迭代的软输出维特比译码算法(SOVA)进行译码。系统经过实验室水池的试验,证实能保证译码的实时性及其在恶劣信道中数据传输的正确性,具有相当优异的性能。     

Spatio-temporal processing of coherent acoustic communication datain shallow water

Achieving reliable underwater communication in shallow water is a difficult task because of the random time-varying nature of multipath propagation. When the product of Doppler-related signal bandwidth spread and multipath-related time spread of the channel is larger than one, some types of adaptive signal processing may not work very well. In this paper, various methods of coherent space-time processing are compared for a condition of a marginally overspread channel operating at 50 kHz. Various combinations of suboptimal spatially adaptive and time adaptive methods are considered. The coherent path beamformer (CPB) and recursive least squares (RLS) adaptive beamformer, both in combination with RLS time filtering, are analyzed. Also considered in the analysis is the combined RLS space-time optimal adaptive processor. Many experiments using broad-band phase-shift-keyed transmissions in shallow water have been conducted to provide data for testing these various processing methods. Because of the rapid time variation of the multipath, the product of bandwidth spread and time spread at this test site approached unity. In this environment, a suboptimal approach consisting of the adaptive beamformer followed by RLS equalization reduced reverberation and transmission errors     

Biomimetic sonar locates and recognizes objects

An active sonar is described that adaptively changes its location and configuration in response to the echoes it observes in order to locate an object, position it at a known location, and identify it using features extracted from the echoes. The sonar consists of a center transmitter flanked by two receivers that can rotate and is positioned at the end of a robot arm that has five degree-of-freedom mobility. The sonar operates in air using Polaroid transducers that are resonant at 60 kHz with a nominal wavelength equal to 6 mm. The emitted pulse has a short duration with a useful bandwidth extending from 20 to 130 kHz. Using binaural information, the transmitter rotates to position an echo-producing object on its axis to maximize the acoustic intensity incident on the nearest echo-producing feature. The receivers rotate to maximize the echo amplitude and bandwidth. These optimizations are useful for differentiating objects. The system recognizes a collection of ball bearings, machine washers, and rubber O-rings of different sizes ranging from 0.45 to 2.54 cm, some differing by less than 1 mm in diameter. Learning is accomplished by extracting vectors of 32 echo envelope values acquired during a scan in elevation and forming a data base. Recognition is accomplished by comparing a single observed echo vector with the data base to find the least squared error match. A bent-wire paper clip illustrates the recognition of an asymmetric pose-dependent object     

Coded modulation for digital communications over Rayleigh fadingchannels

A signal-design method based on the integration of coding and modulation, noncoherent demodulation, and soft-decision decoding is described. The integrated coding/modulation approach provides robust signal designs for digital communications over rapidly fading channels that may be encountered in medium- and long-range, horizontal-path acoustic telemetry. The structure of the corresponding demodulator/decoder is described, and the error rate performance of the resulting system is evaluated for Rayleigh fading signal statistics. Of special interest is the use of concatenated coding for forming codes of large distance, and an example is given using dual-k codes. The performance gains that are achieved by the integrated coded modulation approach relative to conventional uncoded signal designs are also illustrated     

CSI feedback-based CS for underwater acoustic adaptive modulation OFDM system with channel prediction

In this paper, we investigate the performance of adaptive modulation （AM） orthogonal frequency division multiplexing （OFDM） system in underwater acoustic （UWA） communications. The aim is to solve the problem of large feedback overhead for channel state information （CSI） in every subcarrier. A novel CSI feedback scheme is proposed based on the theory of compressed sensing （CS）. We propose a feedback from the receiver that only feedback the sparse channel parameters. Additionally, prediction of the channel state is proposed every several symbols to realize the AM in practice. We describe a linear channel prediction algorithm which is used in adaptive transmission. This system has been tested in the real underwater acoustic channel. The linear channel prediction makes the AM transmission techniques more feasible for acoustic channel communications. The simulation and experiment show that significant improvements can be obtained both in bit error rate （BER） and throughput in the AM scheme compared with the fixed Quadrature Phase Shift Keying （QPSK） modulation scheme. Moreover, the performance with standard CS outperforms the Discrete Cosine Transform （DCT） method.     

Phase-coherent digital communications for underwater acousticchannels

High-speed phase coherent communications in the ocean channel are made difficult by the combined effects of large Doppler fluctuations and extended, time-varying multipath. In order to account for these effects, we consider a receiver which performs optimal phase synchronization and channel equalization jointly. Since the intersymbol interference in some underwater acoustic channels spans several tens of symbol intervals, making the optimal maximum-likelihood receiver unacceptably complex, we use a suboptimal, but low complexity, decision feedback equalizer. The mean squared error multiparameter optimization results in an adaptive algorithm which is a combination of recursive least squares and second-order digital phase and delay-locked loops. The use of a fractionally spaced equalizer eliminates the need for explicit symbol delay tracking. The proposed algorithm is applied to experimental data from three types of underwater acoustic channels: long-range deep water, long-range shallow water, and short-range shallow water channels. The modulation techniques used are 4- and 8-PSK. The results indicate the feasibility of achieving power-efficient communications in these channels and demonstrate the ability to coherently combine multiple arrivals, thus exploiting the diversity inherent in multipath propagation     

Acoustic correlation current profiler

An acoustic correlation current profiler (ACCP) system is being developed to obtain vertical profiles of current velocities to ranges of approximately 1500 m. A single transmitter and a spatial array of eight receivers arranged in a novel geometry are employed to measure water mass displacement from receiver array cross-correlation functions. Test data from a shallow water ACCP operating at 76.8 kHz are presented and compared to model predictions as well as to velocity profiles obtained simultaneously during the tests from an adjacent acoustic Doppler current profiler. Additionally, predicted performance data for a lower frequency deep-water unit are presented     

Underwater Acoustic Communication Based on Pattern Time Delay Shift Coding Scheme

1 .Introduction Underwater acoustic (UWA) communicationis a fast developingfield,and its applicationis notlimitedto military affairs ,but is also extendinginto commercial fields .Catipovic (1990) ,Stojanovic(1996) and Kilfoyle and Baggeroer (2000) pointed…     

时变多径水声信道的仿真研究

本文针对浅海水声信道的时变特性，基于射线理论引入海洋参数——强度起伏参数Φ、不均匀度参数A，建立有效的时变多径信道模型，并采用Matlab工具进行仿真．仿真结果表明，该模型相比于确定性模型更容易理解、更真实．文中给出的模型和结论能够为实际通信系统中发射接收机深度等的选择和设计提供一定的参考和依据，有助于对水声信道的了解．     

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.