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Underwater Acoustics and Ocean Dynamics pp 11–18Cite as

Counterintuitive Results in Underwater Acoustic Communications

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Abstract

Underwater wireless communication using acoustic signals is a difficult problem and progress in finding robust solutions has been disappointing. Methods employed successfully in terrestrial wireless communications have not always transitioned successfully to underwater scenarios. An engineer’s intuition developed in solving the terrestrial problem may actually become a hindrance to solving the underwater problem. In the present work, several seemingly counterintuitive experimental results are examined: communications performance can be better when the range is longer rather than shorter, when the sea surface is rough rather than calm, when the bathymetry is undulating rather than flat. Physics-based explanations for the observed results are developed. A physicist’s intuition, however, also may fail when trying to develop useful models. A seemingly counterintuitive fact is that acoustic paths that undergo incoherent reflection from a rough sea surface can be shown experimentally to be useful for coherent communications. The requirements for a proper physics-based model are sketched.

Keywords

  • Underwater acoustic communications
  • Rayleigh parameter
  • Equalization

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Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges the colleagues who were instrumental in the success of the above-reviewed experiments and who coauthored the subsequent journal papers: Darrell Jackson, David Dowling, James Ritcey, Warren Fox, and John Flynn (2000 Puget Sound Experiment); Michael Porter, Martin Siderius, Mohsen Badiey, and Aijun Song (KauaiEx03); James Ritcey, Zhongkang Wang, Menglu Xia, and Wen Xu (CAPEx09). The United States Office of Naval Research provided support for the experiments. The author also thanks the PRUAC Organizing Committee for the invitation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA

    Daniel Rouseff

  2. Northwest Electromagnetics and Acoustics Research Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, Portland State University, Portland, OR, 9720, USA

    Daniel Rouseff

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  1. Daniel Rouseff
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Correspondence to Daniel Rouseff .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hangzhou Applied Acoustics Institute , Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Lisheng Zhou

  2. College of Information Science & Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Wen Xu

  3. Hangzhou Applied Acoustics Institute , Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Qianliu Cheng

  4. College of Information Science & Electronic Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Hangfang Zhao

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© 2016 Zhejiang University Press and Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

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Rouseff, D. (2016). Counterintuitive Results in Underwater Acoustic Communications. In: Zhou, L., Xu, W., Cheng, Q., Zhao, H. (eds) Underwater Acoustics and Ocean Dynamics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2422-1_2

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