Underwater acoustic channel properties in the Gulf of Naples and their effects on digital data transmission

In this paper we studied the physical properties of the Gulf of Naples (Southern Italy) for its use as a commu- nication channel for the acoustic transmission of digital data acquired by seismic instruments on the seafloor to a moored buoy. The acoustic link will be assured by high frequency acoustic modems operating with a central frequency of 100 kHz and a band pass of 10 kHz. The main operational requirements of data transmission con- cern the near horizontal acoustic link, the maximum depth of the sea being about 300 m and the planned hori- zontal distance between seismic instruments and buoy 2 km. This study constructs the signal-to-noise ratio maps to understand the limits beyond which the clarity of the transmission is no longer considered reliable. Using ray- theory, we compute the amplitudes of a transmitted signal at a grid of 21×12 receivers to calculate the transmis- sion loss at each receiver. The signal-to-noise ratio is finally computed for each receiver knowing also the trans- mitter source level and the acoustic noise level in the Gulf of Naples. The results show that the multipath effects predominate over the effects produced by the sound velocity gradient in the sea in the summer period. In the case of omnidirectional transmitters with a Source Level (SL) of 165 dB and a baud rate of 2.4 kbit/s, the results al- so show that distances of 1400-1600 m can be reached throughout the year for transmitter-receiver connections below 50 m depth in the underwater acoustic channel

Underwater Acoustic Communication (UWA) Data Packet Size Optimization based on Throughput

The aim of this project is to obtain a new method which will help to maximize the performance of the Underwater Water Acoustic Network. The metrics that will be used namely are Throughput, Bit Error Rate, and Energy. These three metrics are very crucial for the network life time. Throughput will be discussed heaver. Various mathematical methods such as interpolation will be address in order to justify between these three metrics. The main contribution of this project is the algorithm and the lookup table construction developed for selecting optimal packet size in underwater communication efficiency

Model-Based Adaptive Behavior Framework for Optimal Acoustic Communication and Sensing by Marine Robots

In this paper, a hybrid data- and model-based autonomous environmental adaptation framework is presented which allows autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with acoustic sensors to follow a path which optimizes their ability to maintain connectivity with an acoustic contact for optimal sensing or communication. The adaptation framework is implemented within the behavior-based mission-oriented operating suite-interval programming (MOOS-IvP) marine autonomy architecture and uses a new embedded high-fidelity acoustic modeling infrastructure, the generic robotic acoustic model (GRAM), to provide real-time estimates of the acoustic environment under changing environmental and situational scenarios. A set of behaviors that combine adaptation to the current acoustic environment with strategies that extend the decision horizon beyond that of typical behavior-based systems have been developed, implemented, and demonstrated in a series of field experiments and virtual experiments in a MOOS-IvP simulation.United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-08-1-0011)United States. Office of Naval Research (Grant N00014-08-1-0013)NATO Undersea Research Centre (NURC

Designing the Undersea Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications Using UnderWater Acoustic MIMO Networks

This review paper tries to assess the spectral-efficient (SE) and energy-efficient (EE) performance of underwater acoustic multiple-input multiple-output (UWA/MIMO) networks. Since UWA/MIMO networks define the cutting-edge communications platform of the future’s undersea IoT and M2M networks, the factors that influence their SE and EE performance are thoroughly examined in this paper.The contribution of this paper is three-fold. First, the performance of UWA/MIMO networks is studied with regard to appropriate transmission, SE and EE metrics. The SE and EE performance of these networks drastically depends on the used frequency band, the transmitted power, the MIMO scheme properties, the power consumption profile of the deployed UWA system equipment and the topological characteristics of MIMO configurations. In order to achieve the transition from traditional UWA single-input single-output (UWA/SISO) networks to UWA/MIMO networks, a new singular value decomposition MIMO (SVD/MIMO) module, which also permits the theoretical computation of the aforementioned transmission, SE and EE metrics in UWA networks, is first presented. Second, based on the aforementioned transmission, SE and EE metrics, a SE/EE trade-off relation is proposed in order to investigate the combined SE and EE performance of UWA/MIMO networks. On the basis of this SE/EE trade-off relation, it is first revealed that today’s UWA system equipment cannot support the further IoT broadband exploitation with satisfactory EE performance. Third, the concepts of multi-hop UWA communications and standard UWA topologies are outlined and promoted so that further SE and EE improvement can concurrently occur. These concepts are quantitatively validated by the SE and EE metrics as well as the SE/EE trade-off curves.Based on the findings of this paper, suitable transmitted power levels and better design of UWA/MIMO configurations are promoted so that: (i) SE and EE requirements can be satisfied at will; and (ii) EE-oriented high-bitrate M2M communications network design can be established.Citation: Lazaropoulos, A. G. (2016). "Designing the Undersea Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications Using UnderWater Acoustic MIMO Networks." Trends in Renewable Energy, 2(1), 13-50. DOI: 10.17737/tre.2016.2.1.001

Underwater acoustic channel properties in the Gulf of Naples and their effects on digital data transmission

In this paper we studied the physical properties of the Gulf of Naples (Southern Italy) for its use as a commu- nication channel for the acoustic transmission of digital data acquired by seismic instruments on the seafloor to a moored buoy. The acoustic link will be assured by high frequency acoustic modems operating with a central frequency of 100 kHz and a band pass of 10 kHz. The main operational requirements of data transmission con- cern the near horizontal acoustic link, the maximum depth of the sea being about 300 m and the planned hori- zontal distance between seismic instruments and buoy 2 km. This study constructs the signal-to-noise ratio maps to understand the limits beyond which the clarity of the transmission is no longer considered reliable. Using ray- theory, we compute the amplitudes of a transmitted signal at a grid of 21×12 receivers to calculate the transmis- sion loss at each receiver. The signal-to-noise ratio is finally computed for each receiver knowing also the trans- mitter source level and the acoustic noise level in the Gulf of Naples. The results show that the multipath effects predominate over the effects produced by the sound velocity gradient in the sea in the summer period. In the case of omnidirectional transmitters with a Source Level (SL) of 165 dB and a baud rate of 2.4 kbit/s, the results al- so show that distances of 1400-1600 m can be reached throughout the year for transmitter-receiver connections below 50 m depth in the underwater acoustic channel

Thruster Communication for Subsurface Environments; Turning Waste Noise into Useful Data

Acoustic communication serves as one of the primary means of wirelessly communicating underwater. Whereas much of the developments in the field of wireless communication have focused on radio frequency technology, water highly absorbs radio waves rendering the link not feasible for most all subsurface operations. While acoustic links have enabled new capabilities for systems operating in this challenging environment, it has yet to reach the commodity availability of radio systems, meaning that an entire class of small, low-cost systems have been unable to make use of these links. The systems in question are primarily autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), as they typically operate untethered as compared to remotely operated vehicles (ROVs). To address this gap in capability, a prototype system was constructed leveraging the ambient noise produced by brushless electric thrusters to transmit data. This research aims to build on this work and answer some key questions about the technology. The primary research question is how the operation of a thruster as a propulsor impacts the transmission of data. A characterization of the system will be presented, isolating the behavior of the thruster. From this, it will be shown that a thruster behaves in a manner nearly identically to a purpose-built transducer solution. From this finding, an analysis into the optimization of the link is presented, analyzing protocol improvements, inter symbol interference, and approaches to leveraging signal harmonics of the data link to increase bandwidth. From this work, a transmitter implementation was demonstrated utilizing frequency shift keying to send data at a rate of 2000 bits per second. Beyond the specifics of this work, this transmission system was demonstrated on a low-cost, open-source motor controller, enabling a system to easy integrate or enable this capability. This demonstrates that most any system can leverage this technology to add additional operational capability

Effects of errorless learning on the acquisition of velopharyngeal movement control

Session 1pSC - Speech Communication: Cross-Linguistic Studies of Speech Sound Learning of the Languages of Hong Kong (Poster Session)The implicit motor learning literature suggests a benefit for learning if errors are minimized during practice. This study investigated whether the same principle holds for learning velopharyngeal movement control. Normal speaking participants learned to produce hypernasal speech in either an errorless learning condition (in which the possibility for errors was limited) or an errorful learning condition (in which the possibility for errors was not limited). Nasality level of the participants’ speech was measured by nasometer and reflected by nasalance scores (in %). Errorless learners practiced producing hypernasal speech with a threshold nasalance score of 10% at the beginning, which gradually increased to a threshold of 50% at the end. The same set of threshold targets were presented to errorful learners but in a reversed order. Errors were defined by the proportion of speech with a nasalance score below the threshold. The results showed that, relative to errorful learners, errorless learners displayed fewer errors (50.7% vs. 17.7%) and a higher mean nasalance score (31.3% vs. 46.7%) during the acquisition phase. Furthermore, errorless learners outperformed errorful learners in both retention and novel transfer tests. Acknowledgment: Supported by The University of Hong Kong Strategic Research Theme for Sciences of Learning © 2012 Acoustical Society of Americapublished_or_final_versio