Underwater sensor nodes will find applications in oceanographic data collection, pollution monitoring, offshore exploration, disaster prevention, assisted navigation and tactical surveillance applications. Moreover, unmanned or autonomous underwater vehicles (UUVs, AUVs), equipped with sensors, will enable the exploration of natural undersea resources and gathering of scientific data in collaborative monitoring missions. Underwater acoustic networking is the enabling technology for these applications. Underwater networks consist of a variable number of sensors and vehicles that are deployed to perform collaborative monitoring tasks over a given area. In this paper, several fundamental key aspects of underwater acoustic communications are investigated. Different architectures for two-dimensional and three-dimensional underwater sensor networks are discussed, and the characteristics of the underwater channel are detailed. The main challenges for the development of efficient networking solutions posed by the underwater environment are detailed and a cross-layer approach to the integration of all communication functionalities is suggested. Furthermore, open research issues are discussed and possible solution approaches are outlined. � 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

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Underwater acoustic sensor networks: research challenges

In this paper we review the most peculiar and interesting information-theoretic and communications features of fading channels. We first describe the statistical models of fading channels which are frequently used in the analysis and design of communication systems. Next, we focus on the information theory of fading channels, by emphasizing capacity as the most important performance measure. Both single-user and multiuser transmission are examined. Further, we describe how the structure of fading channels impacts code design, and finally overview equalization of fading multipath channels.

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Fading channels: information-theoretic and communications aspects

Acoustic propagation is characterized by three major factors: attenuation that increases with signal frequency, time-varying multipath propagation, and low speed of sound (1500 m/s). The background noise, although often characterized as Gaussian, is not white, but has a decaying power spectral density. The channel capacity depends on the distance, and may be extremely limited. Because acoustic propagation is best supported at low frequencies, although the total available bandwidth may be low, an acoustic communication system is inherently wideband in the sense that the bandwidth is not negligible with respect to its center frequency. The channel can have a sparse impulse response, where each physical path acts as a time-varying low-pass filter, and motion introduces additional Doppler spreading and shifting. Surface waves, internal turbulence, fluctuations in the sound speed, and other small-scale phenomena contribute to random signal variations. At this time, there are no standardized models for the acoustic channel fading, and experimental measurements are often made to assess the statistical properties of the channel in particular deployment sites.

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Underwater acoustic communication channels: Propagation models and statistical characterization

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.

https://www.mit.edu/~millitsa/resources/pdfs/joema.pdf

Underwater acoustic networks

Progress in underwater acoustic telemetry since 1982 is reviewed within a framework of six current research areas: (1) underwater channel physics, channel simulations, and measurements; (2) receiver structures; (3) diversity exploitation; (4) error control coding; (5) networked systems; and (6) alternative modulation strategies. Advances in each of these areas as well as perspectives on the future challenges facing them are presented. A primary thesis of this paper is that increased integration of high-fidelity channel models into ongoing underwater telemetry research is needed if the performance envelope (defined in terms of range, rate, and channel complexity) of underwater modems is to expand.

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The state of the art in underwater acoustic telemetry

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. >

Phase-coherent digital communications for underwater acoustic channels

A theoretically optimal multichannel receiver for intersymbol interference communication channels is derived, and its suboptimal versions with linear and decision feedback equalizer are presented. A practical receiver based on any of these structures encounters difficulties in the underwater acoustic channels in which the extended time‐varying multipath is accompanied by phase instabilities. A receiver that overcomes these problems by jointly performing adaptive mean‐squared error diversity combining, multichannel carrier‐phase synchronization and decision feedback equalization is proposed. Its performance is demonstrated on the experimental telemetry data from deep and shallow water long‐range acoustic channels. Presented results indicate superior quality of coherent PSK and QAM reception obtained through joint equalization of very few channels.

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Adaptive multichannel combining and equalization for underwater acoustic communications

Performance limitations in digital acoustic telemetry are addressed. Increases in computational capabilities have led to a number of complex but practical solutions aimed at increasing the reliability of acoustic data links. These solutions range from ocean-basin scale data telemetry to video-image transmission at a few hundred yards' distance. The opportunity to implement highly complex tasks in real time on modest hardware is a common factor. The data rates range from 1 to 500 kb/s and are much slower than satellite channels, while acceptable system complexity is higher than virtually any other channel with comparable data throughput. The basic performance bounds are the channel phase stability, available bandwidth, and the channel impulse response fluctuation rate. Phase stability is of particular concern for long-range telemetry, channel fluctuation characteristics drive equalizer, and synchronizer design; the bandwidth limitation is a direct constraint on data rate for a given signaling method. >

Performance limitations in underwater acoustic telemetry

A coherent receiver with a decision-feedback equalizer (DFE) operating on a Rayleigh fading channel under a suitable adaptive algorithm is considered. In the analysis of a DFE, a common assumption is that the receiver has perfect knowledge of the channel impulse response. However, this is not the case in practice, and for a rapidly fading channel, errors in channel tracking can become significant. We analyze theoretically the impact of these errors on the performance of a multichannel DFE. The expressions obtained for the achievable average MPSK bit error probabilities depend on the estimation error covariance. In order to specify this matrix, we focus on a special case when a Kalman filter is used as an optimal channel estimator. In this case, the probability of bit error can be assessed directly in terms of channel fading model parameters, the most interesting of which is the fading rate. Our results show the penalty imposed by imperfect channel estimation, as well as the fading-induced irreducible error rates. >

Analysis of the impact of channel estimation errors on the performance of a decision-feedback equalizer in fading multipath channels

Multichannel processing of high‐speed underwater acoustic communication signals requires computationally intensive receiver algorithms. The size of adaptive filters, determined by the extent of ocean multipath, increases with signaling rate and limits system performance through large noise enhancement and increased sensitivity of computationally efficient algorithms to numerical errors. To overcome these limitations, reduction in receiver complexity is achieved by exploiting the relationship between optimal diversity combining and beamforming. Under relatively simple conditions, two adaptive receivers, one based on diversity combining which does not rely on any spatial signal distribution, and the other based on optimal beamforming, are shown to achieve the same performance. The beamforming approach, however, leads to a receiver of lower complexity. Carrying these observations over to a general case of broadband transmission through an unknown channel, a fully adaptive receiver is developed which incorporates a multi‐input multi‐output, many‐to‐few combiner, and a reduced‐complexity multichannel equalizer. Receiver operations are optimized jointly to ensure minimum mean‐squared error performance of data detection. Results of processing experimental shallow water data demonstrate the capability to fully exploit spatial diversity of underwater multipath while keeping the complexity at an acceptable level.

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J. Catipovic

Papers

Phase-coherent digital communications for underwater acoustic channels

Adaptive multichannel combining and equalization for underwater acoustic communications

Performance limitations in underwater acoustic telemetry

Analysis of the impact of channel estimation errors on the performance of a decision-feedback equalizer in fading multipath channels

Reduced‐complexity spatial and temporal processing of underwater acoustic communication signals