Frequency Diversity for OFDM Mobile Communication via Underwater Acoustic Channels

The major constraint on the performance of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing （OFDM） based underwater acoustic （UWA） communication is to keep subcarriers orthogonal. In this paper, Doppler estimation and the respective compensation technique along with various diversity techniques were deliberated for OFDM-based systems best suited for underwater wireless information exchange. In practice, for mobile communication, adjustment and tuning of transducers in order to get spatial diversity is extremely difficult. Considering the relatively low coherence bandwidth in UWA, the frequency diversity design with the Doppler compensation function was elaborated here. The outfield experiments of mobile underwater acoustic communication （UWAC） based on OFDM were carried out with 0.17 bit/（s-Hz） spectral efficiency. The validity and the dependability of the scheme were also analyzed.

Fractional Fourier domain hopped communication method based on chirp modulation for underwater acoustic channels

To improve the data rate of underwater acoustic frequency-hopped communications, frequency hopping is applied to different orders of fractional Fourier domain (FrFD), to enable non-intrusive, bandwidth-limited acoustic communications. An FrFD frequency-hopped communication method based on chirp modulation, namely multiple chirp shift keying-FrFD hopping (MCSK-FrFDH), is proposed for underwater acoustic channels. Validated by both simulations and experimental results, this method can reach a bandwidth efficiency twice more than conventional frequency-hopped methods with the same data rate and anti-multipath capability, suggesting that the proposed method achieves a better performance than the traditional frequency hopped communication in underwater acoustic communication channels. Results also show that in practical scenarios, the MCSK-FrFDH system with longer symbol length performs better at the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), while the system with larger frequency sweeping range performs better at a high SNR.

Simplified p-norm-like Constraint LMS Algorithm for Efficient Estimation of Underwater Acoustic Channels

Underwater acoustic channels are recognized for being one of the most difficult propagation media due to considerable difficulties such as： multipath, ambient noise, time-frequency selective fading. The exploitation of sparsity contained in underwater acoustic channels provides a potential solution to improve the performance of underwater acoustic channel estimation. Compared with the classic 10 and 11 norm constraint LMS algorithms, the p-norm-like （Ip） constraint LMS algorithm proposed in our previous investigation exhibits better sparsity exploitation performance at the presence of channel variations, as it enables the adaptability to the sparseness by tuning of p parameter. However, the decimal exponential calculation associated with the p-norm-like constraint LMS algorithm poses considerable limitations in practical application. In this paper, a simplified variant of the p-norm-like constraint LMS was proposed with the employment of Newton iteration m to approximate the decimal exponential calculation. Num simulations and the experimental results obtained in physical shallow water channels demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method compared to traditional norm constraint LMS algorithms.

Underwater acoustic signal denoising model based on secondary variational mode decomposition

Due to the complexity of marine environment,underwater acoustic signal will be affected by complex background noise during transmission.Underwater acoustic signal denoising is always a difficult problem in underwater acoustic signal processing.To obtain a better denoising effect,a new denoising method of underwater acoustic signal based on optimized variational mode decomposition by black widow optimization algorithm(BVMD),fluctuation-based dispersion entropy threshold improved by Otsu method(OFDE),cosine similarity stationary threshold(CSST),BVMD,fluctuation-based dispersion entropy(FDE),named BVMD-OFDE-CSST-BVMD-FDE,is proposed.In the first place,decompose the original signal into a series of intrinsic mode functions(IMFs)by BVMD.Afterwards,distinguish pure IMFs,mixed IMFs and noise IMFs by OFDE and CSST,and reconstruct pure IMFs and mixed IMFs to obtain primary denoised signal.In the end,decompose primary denoising signal into IMFs by BVMD again,use the FDE value to distinguish noise IMFs and pure IMFs,and reconstruct pure IMFs to obtain the final denoised signal.The proposed mothod has three advantages:(i)BVMD can adaptively select the decomposition layer and penalty factor of VMD.(ii)FDE and CS are used as double criteria to distinguish noise IMFs from useful IMFs,and Otsu algorithm and CSST algorithm can effectively avoid the error caused by manually selecting thresholds.(iii)Secondary decomposition can make up for the deficiency of primary decomposition and further remove a small amount of noise.The chaotic signal and real ship signal are denoised.The experiment result shows that the proposed method can effectively denoise.It improves the denoising effect after primary decomposition,and has good practical value.

Multi-Channel Iterative FDE for Single Carrier Block Transmission over Underwater Acoustic Channels

Recently, single carrier block transmission(SCBT) has received much attention in high-rate phase-coherent underwater acoustic communication.However,minimum-mean-square-error(MMSE) linear FDE may suffer performance loss in the severely time dispersive underwater acoustic channel. To combat the channel distortion, a novel multi-channel receiver with maximum ratio combining and a low complex T/4 fractional iterative frequency domain equalization(FDE) is investigated to improve diversity gain and the bit error rate(BER) performance. The proposed method has been verified by the real data from a lake underwater acoustic communication test in November 2011. At 1.8 km, the useful data rates are around 1500 and 3000 bits/s for BPSK and QPSK respectively. The results show the improvements of system performance. Compared with MMSE FDE system, the output SNR improvement is 6.9 d B, and the BER is from 10-3 to no error bits for BPSK. The output SNR improvement is 5.3 d B, and the BER is from 1.91×10-2 to 2.2×10-4for QPSK.

A zeroing neurodynamics‐based location method for nodes in underwater acoustic sensor network

Zeroing neurodynamics methodology,which dedicates to finding equilibrium points of equations,has been proven to be a powerful tool in the online solving of problems with considerable complexity.In this paper,a method for underwater acoustic sensor network(UASN)localisation is proposed based on zeroing neurodynamics methodology to preferably locate moving underwater nodes.A zeroing neurodynamics model specifically designed for UASN localisation is constructed with rigorous theoretical analyses of its effectiveness.The proposed zeroing neurodynamics model is compatible with some localisation algorithms,which can be utilised to eliminate error in non‐ideal situations,thus further improving its effectiveness.Finally,the effectiveness and compatibility of the proposed zeroing neurodynamics model are substantiated by examples and computer simulations.

Null subcarriers based Doppler scale estimation with polynomial interpolation for multicarrier communication over ultrawideband underwater acoustic channels

This paper addresses the extremal problem of the null subcarriers based Doppler scale estimation in underwater acoustic （UWA） orthogonal frequency division multiplexing （OFDM） communication. The cost function constructed of the total energy of null subcarriers through discrete Fourier transform （DFT） is proposed. The frequencies of null subcarriers are identified from non-uniform Doppler shift at each tentative scaling factor. Then it is proved that the cost function can be fitted as a quadratic polynomial near the global minimum. An accurate Doppler scale estimation is achieved by the location of the global scarifying precision and increasing the computation minimum through polynomial interpolation, without complexity. A shallow water experiment is conducted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method. Excellent performance results are obtained in ultrawideband UWA channels with a relative bandwidth of 67%, when the transmitter and the receiver are moving at a relative speed of 5 kn, which validates the proposed method.

Topology optimization of chiral metamaterials with application to underwater sound insulation

Chiral metamaterials have been proven to possess many appealing mechanical phenomena,such as negative Poisson's ratio,high-impact resistance,and energy absorption.This work extends the applications of chiral metamaterials to underwater sound insulation.Various chiral metamaterials with low acoustic impedance and proper stiffness are inversely designed using the topology optimization scheme.Low acoustic impedance enables the metamaterials to have a high and broadband sound transmission loss(STL),while proper stiffness guarantees its robust acoustic performance under a hydrostatic pressure.As proof-of-concept demonstrations,two specimens are fabricated and tested in a water-filled impedance tube.Experimental results show that,on average,over 95%incident sound energy can be isolated by the specimens in a broad frequency range from 1 k Hz to 5 k Hz,while the sound insulation performance keeps stable under a certain hydrostatic pressure.This work may provide new insights for chiral metamaterials into the underwater applications with sound insulation.

Blind Equalization Based on RLS Algorithm Using Adaptive Forgetting Factor for Underwater Acoustic Channel

Blind equalization based on adaptive forgetting factor, recursive least squares （RLS） with constant modulus algorithm （CMA）, is investigated. The cost function of CMA is simplified to meet the second norm form to ensure the stability of RLS-CMA, and thus an improved RLS-CMA （RLS-SCMA） is established. To further improve its performance, a new adaptive forgetting factor RLS-SCMA （ARLS-SCMA） is proposed. In ARLS-SCMA, the forgetting factor varies with the output error of the blind equalizer during the iterative process, which leads to a faster convergence rate and a smaller steady-state error. The simulation results prove the effectiveness under the condition of the underwater acoustic channel.

Sparse underwater acoustic OFDM channel estimation based on superimposed training

A superimposed training （ST） based channel estimation method is presented that provides accurate estimation of a sparse underwater acoustic orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing （OFDM） channel while improving bandwidth transmission efficiency. A periodic low power training sequence is superimposed on the information sequence at the transmitter. The channel parameters can be estimated without consuming any extra system bandwidth, but an unknown information sequence can interfere with the ST channel estimation method, so in this paper, an iterative method was adopted to improve estimation performance. An underwater acoustic channel＇s properties include large channel dimensions and a sparse structure, so a matching pursuit （MP） algorithm was used to estimate the nonzero taps, allowing the performance loss caused by additive white Gaussian noise （AWGN） to be reduced. The results of computer simulations show that the proposed method has good channel estimation performance and can reduce the peak-to-average ratio of the OFDM channel as well.

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.

UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS AND CAVITATING FLOW OF WATER ENTRY

The fluid mechanics of water entry is studied through investigating the underwater acoustics and the supercavitation.Underwater acoustic signals in water entry are extensively measured at about 30 different positions by using a PVDF needle hydrophone.From the measurements we obtain (1)the primary shock wave caused by the impact of the blunt body on free surface;(2)the vapor pressure inside the cavity;(3)the secondary shock wave caused by pulling away of the cavity from free surface;and so on.The supercavitation induced by the blunt body is observed by using a digital high-speed video camera as well as the single shot photography.The periodic and 3 dimensional motion of the supercavitation is revealed.The experiment is carried out at room temperature.

Self-adjusting decision feedback equalizer for variational underwater acoustic channel environments

Aimed at the abominable influences to blind equaliza-tion algorithms caused by complex time-space variability existing in underwater acoustic channels, a new self-adjusting decision feedback equalization （DFE） algorithm adapting to different under-water acoustic channel environments is proposed by changing its central tap position. Besides, this new algorithm behaves faster convergence speed based on the analysis of equalizers’ working rules, which is more suitable to implement communications in dif-ferent unknown channels. Corresponding results and conclusions are validated by simulations and spot experiments.

Underwater Acoustic Communication Based on Pattern Time Delay Shift Coding Scheme

Underwater acoustic communication based on Pattern Tune Delay Shift Coding （PDS） communication scheme is studied. The time delay shift values of the pattern are used to encode the digital information in the PDS scheme, which belongs to the Pulse Position Modulation （PPM）. The duty cycle of the PDS scheme is small, so it can economize the power for communication. By use of different patterns for code division and different frequencies for channel division, the communication system is capable of mitigating the inter-symbol interference （ISI） caused by the muhipath channel. The data rate of communication is 1000 bits/s at 8 kHz bandwidth. The receiver separates the channels by means of bandpass filters, and performs decoding by 4 copy-correlators to estimate the time delay shift value. Based on the theoretical analysis and numerical simulations, the PDS scheme is shown to be a robust and effective approach for underwater acoustic communication.

Shipborne Underwater Acoustic Communication System and Sea Trials with Submersible Shenhai Yongshi

The Shipborne acoustic communication system of the submersible Shenhai Yongshi works in vertical, horizontal and slant channels according to the relative positions. For ease of use, an array combined by a vertical-cone directional transducer and a horizontal-toroid one is installed on the mothership. Improved techniques are proposed to combat adverse channel conditions, such as frequency selectivity, non-stationary ship noise, and Doppler effects of the platform’s nonlinear movement. For coherent modulation, a turbo-coded single-carrier scheme is used. In the receiver, the sparse decision-directed Normalized Least-Mean-Square soft equalizer automatically adjusts the tap pattern and weights according to the multipath structure, the two receivers’ asymmetry, the signal’s frequency selectivity and the noise’s spectrum fluctuation. The use of turbo code in turbo equalization significantly suppresses the error floor and decreases the equalizer’s iteration times, which is verified by both the extrinsic information transfer charts and bit-error-rate performance. For noncoherent modulation, a concatenated error correction scheme of nonbinary convolutional code and Hadamard code is adopted to utilize full frequency diversity. Robust and lowcomplexity synchronization techniques in the time and Doppler domains are proposed. Sea trials with the submersible to a maximum depth of over 4500 m show that the shipborne communication system performs robustly during the adverse conditions. From the ten-thousand communication records in the 28 dives in 2017, the failure rate of the coherent frames and that of the noncoherent packets are both below 10%, where both synchronization errors and decoding errors are taken into account.

Wide-band underwater acoustic absorption based on locally resonant unit and interpenetrating network structure

The interpenetrating network structure provides an interesting avenue to novel materials. Locally resonant phononic crystal （LRPC） exhibits excellent sound attenuation performance based on the periodical arrangement of sound wave scatters. Combining the LRPC concept and interpenetrating network glassy structure, this paper has developed a new material which can achieve a wide band underwater strong acoustic absorption. Underwater absorption coefficients of different samples were measured by the pulse tube. Measurement results show that the new material possesses excellent underwater acoustic effects in a wide frequency range.Moreover, in order to investigate impacts of locally resonant units,some defects are introduced into the sample. The experimental result and the theoretical calculation both show that locally resonant units being connected to a network structure play an important role in achieving a wide band strong acoustic absorption.

LAMINATED PIEZOELECTRIC PLATE FOR ACTIVE UNDERWATER ACOUSTIC CONTROL

The pressure reflected from a bi-laminated piezoelectric plate hasbeen determined using the Thomson-Haskell matrix method. The plate iscomposed of a piezoelectric layer with grounded vacuum and An elasticlayer in contact with the fluid. An incident plane wave in the fluidmedium strikes the plate at dif- Ferent angles. The required electricpotential across the piezoelectric layer to cancel the reflectionfrom the Fluid/elastic boundary has been determined for thepiezoelectric material PZT-5 at various thickness parame- Ters andincident frequencies.

A Survey on Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks: Perspectives on Protocol Design for Signaling, MAC and Routing

Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs) are often used for environmental and industrial sensing in undersea/ocean space, therefore, these networks are also named underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs). Underwater sensor networks are different from other sensor networks due to the acoustic channel used in their physical layer, thus we should discuss about the specific features of these underwater networks such as acoustic channel modeling and protocol design for different layers of open system interconnection (OSI) model. Each node of these networks as a sensor needs to exchange data with other nodes;however, complexity of the acoustic channel makes some challenges in practice, especially when we are designing the network protocols. Therefore based on the mentioned cases, we are going to review general issues of the design of an UASN in this paper. In this regard, we firstly describe the network architecture for a typical 3D UASN, then we review the characteristics of the acoustic channel and the corresponding challenges of it and finally, we discuss about the different layers e.g. MAC protocols, routing protocols, and signal processing for the application layer of UASNs.

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 a new 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 algorithm identifies and extracts the reference signals against various ambient noises. Significant SNR improvement is also achieved for underwater acoustic signals.

Feedback strategies for iterative channel estimation in OFDM underwater acoustic communications

The extremely limited bandwidth in underwater acoustic communication makes channel estimation using fewer pilot symbols more challenging. Iterative channel estimation( ICE) can be used to refine channel estimation with limited number of pilots,by coupling the channel estimator with channel decoder. In this paper,various feedback strategies in ICE are discussed. The performance of a decision feedback based on the cost function is improved by modifying the design and another four feedback strategies are summarized,including hard/soft decision feedback and their threshold-controlled versions. Simulation results show that ICE can achieve impressive gains over the non-iterative receiver and the gains are more significant with fewer pilots. Furthermore,soft decision feedback outperforms hard decision feedback; while the feedback based on the cost function and soft decision feedback have quite close performance.