Transmission parameters of underwater communication channels

The underwater environment is tough and demanding as a communication channel for ultrasonic signals. The channel transmission characteristics in marine and inland waters depend much on local bathymetry and changing weather conditions. The architecture and performance of a reliable underwater acoustic communication (UAC) system should allow real-time adaptation of its transmission parameters to a large variety of possible channel characteristics. The paper presents an adaptation procedure based on the WSS-US statistical model developed for wireless telecommunication systems. The channel is there characterized by measurements of instantaneous channel impulse response being then a basis for estimation of the channel statistical characteristics and extraction of related parameters in the phase of communication handshake, and next used in the adaptive design of digital communication system transmission settings recorded at the physical and link layers of the communication protocol.