Evaluation of single- and multicarrier methods for underwater communication using data-driven simulations.

Abstract

Unlike in radio communications, there is no standard statistical model for the channel impulse response in underwater acoustic communications. To compare the performance of different communications strategies requires data collected under common environmental conditions. In the present paper, a data-driven simulator is developed for comparing single- and multicarrier communications algorithms. Models for the time-varying channel impulse response over a particular bandwidth are first constructed using archival experimental data. The models are then driven with novel communications sequences of lesser bandwidth. The output is synthetic received data that can then be demodulated to evaluate communications performance. By applying reciprocity to the single-input, multiple-output archival data, both multiple receive arrays and multiple transmit arrays can be simulated. Communications performance for the synthetic data is compared to actual experimental results. [Work partially supported by the ONR.]