A computationally efficient Doppler compensation system forunderwater acoustic communications

A Doppler compensation system is presented which is suitable for high-data-rate acoustic communication between rapidly moving platforms such as autonomous underwater vehicles. The proposed approach provides a generic preprocessor to conventional adaptive receiver structures with only a marginal increase in computational load and hardware cost. The preprocessor employs a novel Doppler estimation technique and efficient sample rate conversion to remove Doppler shift induced by platform velocity and acceleration. Performance predicted by simulation is compared to that of sea trials of a prototype communication system in the North Sea. Successful communication is demonstrated at 16 kbit/s with a transmitting platform moving at up to ±2.6 m/s     

Development of real-time acoustic image recognition system using by autonomous marine vehicle

Automation of complicated underwater tasks require acoustic image based object recognition. This paper presents an acoustic image based real-time object recognition system. We proposed an acoustic image predictor to estimate an object's shape in advance. Depending on the acoustic camera's position, the predictor generates optimal template for recognition. The proposed method is implemented in our autonomous marine vehicle. For real-time processing, efficient recognition strategies are addressed. The vehicle detects an object and localizes it for recognition. In the detection process, the acoustic image's specific characteristics are used as the detection cues. In the localization process, the vehicle's horizontal and vertical positioning strategies are described. Efficient template generation method to minimize computing power is addressed. This realizes real-time recognition using the vehicle. To estimate the proposed system's accuracy and reliability, a recognition test was carried out in the field. The vehicle successfully recognized two different objects with high accuracy.     

A general purpose exact Rayleigh scattering look-up table for ocean color remote sensing

1 Introduction In the total radiance received by an ocean color remote sensor, over 80% radiance is the contribution being scattered by air molecule and aerosol, and a wa- ter-leaving radiance carrying the ocean color informa- tion is only a small part. T…     

A high-frequency, shallow-water acoustic measurement system

The US Naval Ocean Research and Development Activity has developed a high-frequency acoustic measurement system for use in shallow water. The heart of this system is a pair of submersible towers supporting acoustic transmitting and receiving instrumentation. These towers are transported to an experimental staging area, assembled, and acoustic instrumentation installed. They are towed to a preselected measurement site, then the chambers on each tower are flooded, thereby settling slowly to the ocean bottom. Stability and dynamic response analyses were used to determine the towing and deployment stability envelopes for the towers. The acoustic transmitting system uses a pair of narrow-beam parametric acoustic sources operating at secondary frequencies ranging from 20 to 180 kHz. The acoustic receiving systems consist of a pair of 16-hydrophone, two-dimensional arrays with broadband capabilities up to 250 kHz. These systems have been used to make high-resolution bottom scattering measurements in shallow water off the coast, south of Panama City, Florida     

A high-resolution pulse-Doppler underwater acoustic navigation system

A high-resolution underwater acoustic pulse-Doppler navigation system has been developed and tested at sea. The system provides continuous, highly accurate tracking of underwater and ocean-surface platforms in a fixed 50-km²navigation net. Three reference buoys, moored 20 m from the ocean bottom, provide the navigation net used by shipboard processing equipment. Each reference buoy contains an acoustic transponder, used to obtain the acoustic travel times from the transponder to the platform, and a continuous-tone beacon, used to obtain the Doppler shift due to platform motion. The system is capable of determining the position of a platform with respect to the reference net with an error of 2-3 m. The relative position of the platform on a fix-to-fix basis can be determined within several centimeters over short time intervals (approx 10min).     

Absolute positioning of an autonomous underwater vehicle using GPS and acoustic measurements

Kinematic global positioning system (GPS) positioning and underwater acoustic ranging can combine to locate an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with an accuracy of /spl plusmn/30cm (2-/spl sigma/) in the global International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2000 (ITRF2000). An array of three precision transponders, separated by approximately 700 m, was established on the seafloor in 300-m-deep waters off San Diego. Each transponder's horizontal position was determined with an accuracy of /spl plusmn/8 cm (2-/spl sigma/) by measuring two-way travel times with microsecond resolution between transponders and a shipboard transducer, positioned to /spl plusmn/10 cm (2-/spl sigma/) in ITRF2000 coordinates with GPS, as the ship circled each seafloor unit. Travel times measured from AUV to ship and from AUV to transponders to ship were differenced and combined with AUV depth from a pressure gauge to estimate ITRF2000 positions of the AUV to /spl plusmn/1 m (2-/spl sigma/). Simulations show that /spl plusmn/30 cm (2-/spl sigma/) absolute positioning of the AUV can be realized by replacing the time-difference approach with directly measured two-way travel times between AUV and seafloor transponders. Submeter absolute positioning of underwater vehicles in water depths up to several thousand meters is practical. The limiting factor is knowledge of near-surface sound speed which degrades the precision to which transponders can be located in the ITRF2000 frame.     

Underwater acoustic receiver employing direct-sequence spreadspectrum and spatial diversity combining for shallow-water multiaccessnetworking

This paper proposes an underwater adaptive-array receiver structure that utilizes direct-sequence code division multiple access and spatial diversity combining in order to achieve reliable low-data rate multiuser communication in an asynchronous shallow-water network. The performance of the proposed receiver architecture has been verified by means of offline processing of data acquired during sea trials in the summer of 1999 in the North Sea. Results show that this computationally efficient structure is near-far resistant and provides successful multiuser operation in the shallow-water channel     

A microprocessor-based acoustic telemetry system for tide measurement

This paper describes the ocean bottom unit and surface ship deck unit of a multi-microprocessor-based underwater acoustic telemetry system designed primarily to address the application of tidal data gathering during the course of a hydrographic survey. The problems of tidal data collection are highlighted and the objectives of the acoustic telemetry system are stated. A shallow-water environmental model is used to obtain accurate estimates of parameters such as propagation loss, band-level noise, frequency dispersion, and time dispersion. The environmental model in conjunction with in situ measurements dictates the guidelines used in the system design. A breakdown of the units into subsystems is given and each subsystem is described. The results of tests performed with the system on June 12 and 13, 1982, in the Bedford Basin, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, are summarized. Finally, other potential applications of the system are mentioned.     

A low-cost acoustic positioning system for small manned submarines

A low cost range-range acoustic positioning system using modified "off-the-shelf" components was developed for use with small manned submarines. Range information is displayed for the submarine pilot and relayed to a microcomputer aboard the surface support vessel. Software developed for the surface-vessel positioning also plots, displays, and records the submarine position. This system was successfully used to navigate the submarine "Porpoise" during search operations off the Rhode Island coast.     

A triaxial coil receiver system for the study of subsurface electromagnetic propagation

A triaxial set of underwater receiving coils was developed and tested. The receiving system was used jointly with an underwater, calibrated, horizontal, electric dipole source in studies of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic propagation. This paper discusses the electromechanical design of the receiver and tethering system and addresses system sensitivity and noise levels. The receiving system was used successfully in a series of measurements, in spite of serious motion noise contamination. A stationary system sensitivity of5 times 10^{-4} gamma/sqrt{Hz}was achieved.     

Coastal acoustic tomography system and its field application

The coastal acoustic tomography system (CATS), composed of five moored acoustic stations, has been constructed to measure current fields. The system is developed with special considerations in mind, including the use of Global Positioning System clock signals in the synchronization of the system clock timing among the multiple acoustic stations, and the use of the differently coded Gold sequences to identify the acoustic signals corresponding to individual stations from a received signal. The CATS was successfully applied to map the structure of strongly nonlinear tidal currents in the coastal sea. In spite of the limited spatial resolution caused by inadequate sound transmission data, the two-dimensional tidal vortices features of growth, translation, and decay processes are reconstructed through an inverse analysis of the acoustic travel time obtained among the station pairs. It is evident that the CATS is a powerful tool for measuring variable current fields generated in the coastal seas     

声学悬浮泥沙观测系统的研制和应用

为观测水中悬浮泥沙的浓度剖面、监测水中污染物及研究近岸海区泥沙的迁移和沉积,研制了声学悬浮泥沙观测系统(ASSM).总结了设计时主要技术参数的确定及解决关键技术的方法。应用此系统观测长江口悬浮泥沙,得到典型悬浮泥沙浓度剖面。     

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。     

A synthetic bandwidth measurement system for acoustic remotesensing of geoacoustic properties of bottom sediments

A series of narrowband acoustic transmissions may be combined into an equivalent broadband signal - with a corresponding increase in resolution in the time domain. This procedure is called synthetic bandwidth processing. If ray methods are used in combination with inverse theory to determine the otacoustic properties of bottom sediments, the increased time resolution aids in the identification of arrivals which are closely spaced in time. This, in turn, permits improved estimates of the spatial distribution of properties and more accurate otacoustic models. Signal processing techniques and guidelines for synthesizing multioctave broadband pulse-like signals are presented. Also described is the instrumentation used to implement the technique in real ocean environments     

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。     

Design and calibration of an acoustic telemetry system subject to upwelling events

The experiments described were designed to calibrate a hexagonal array of VEMCO VR2 receivers and transmitters (model V9P-6L-S256) in isothermal and stratified water columns off the south coast of South Africa. The array, configured with 500 m between receivers, was designed to study the influence of water temperature and turbidity on the spawning behaviour of chokka squid Loligo reynaudii. Range tests comprised fixing a single VR2 receiver 2 m from the seabed and placing a V9P transmitter at distances of 0 m, 75 m, 150 m, 225 m, 300 m, 375 m, 450 m and 500 m from the receiver for periods of 10 minutes at each position under isothermal conditions and in the presence of a thermocline. The data indicated a range of 300 m for the former and 75 m for the latter conditions. The field performance of the V9P transmitter in a non-stratified water column compared well with the theoretical range of 352 m calculated using software to calculate range. System saturation was investigated by repeating the range test using four, eight and 14 transmitters simultaneously. Field data indicated a significant decrease in signal detections due to signal collisions when more than eight transmitters were active simultaneously. It was demonstrated that the hexagonal configuration of VR2s is optimal during isothermal conditions but inadequate during stratified conditions when acoustic dead zones of 350 m between VR2 receivers can occur.     

基于Visual C和PC的软件水声调制解调系统

介绍了一种DS/DBPSK调制解调技术方案,该方案采用了具有较强抗干扰、抗衰落和抗多径性能的扩频技术,并结合与信道适应性较好、不需载波恢复的差分相位调制技术,对浅海水声信道造成的干扰进行抑制.在此方法上,基于Visual C(VC)及PC平台设计了一个通用性好的软件水声调制解调系统,利用双缓冲邋和多线程技术机制实现算法实时处理,同时可通过串口通信提供上层应用接口.实验系统验证了扩频和差分调制技术在浅海水声通信中的性能,为水声组网提供了底层支持.海试实验结果表明了系统的有效性.     

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。