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Abstract
The concept, design and ocean testing of a new low-power
acoustic modem is presented. The telemetry system employs a novel "chirp" frequency sweep and has other features to allow operation in the presence of multi path interference. The chirp system uses fsk data modulation and
performs a carrier sweep starting at 9 or 31kHz, depending upon the model, to obtain the benefits of frequency
diversity without requiring a frequency synthesizer, multiple filters or a FFT analyzer. Intended for retrofittable to
existing instruments, the new system is designed for use in
the deep ocean and the continental shelf over distances to
6km. Ocean tests were performed in about 4000 meters of
water using the low frequency version. Additional shalIowwater tests are planned, including a typical harbor.
ocean
acoustic telemetry
frequency diversity
modem
multipath
chirp
1. Introduction
Real-time observation of data is a commonly desired capability which is not commonly available in undersea oceanographic instruments. Although convenience and peace-ofmind may be occaisional motivations for these desires, strong
arguments have been made for the value of this capability(1).
These include use in real-time operational systems, multiyear deployments (where it's impractical to wait until the
end for the data), performance monitoring, repair flexibility and expendible instrumentation. We report here on the
design and initial ocean tests of a new chirp acoustic telemetry method, which has simplicity and reliability properties
desirable for fitting acoustic telemetry data links to existing
undersea instrument designs.
~H(eLJ.I~~~
\e:E:e {MfS
.l)
1988 IEEE
CoJ(;\-e~a,
OCellV\S '
66
I-we
+ ..;h 2 + [(h -
h-d
d) tanA - dtanBj2 - - cos A
(2a)
where d is the receive transducer depth, h is the transmitter
depth, A is the transmitting slant angle, B is the scatteredsignal receive angle (both angles are measured from the
vertical) and e is the speed of sound in seawater, about
1.5m/ms. The surface watch-circle radius (we) is related
to the slant angle by we = (h - d) tan A. If the watch circle
radius is known instead of the slant angle A, equation (2a)
can be written:
Pd = _d_
cosB
+ Jh2 + (we -
(2c)
(1)
cos
and we
2.2 Surface Multipath. A common surface-path situation is illustrated in figure 1. The offending surfacescattered (backside arrival) signals clearly travel a longer
path than the direct path signal and therefore take a longer
time to arrive. The earliest-arriving scattered signals take
an extra delay time (Td) to travel an extra path delay (Pd )
as follows:
d
Pd = - B
=0
+ wc 2
(2b)
2.3 Fighting Multipath. Several methods have been suggested to reduce signal degradation by multipath interference. One is to use a transducer with high back rejection
(or use a baffle). In the 3000m example above, the first
offending sound arrived at a~ angle of 145.0 from the transducer forward direction (given by 180 - A, assuming the
transducer is pointed down). A second method is to create a highly-directive receive transducer array(18). These
approaches increase the cost of the system, are painful to
implement at low frequencies and have limited utility for a
variety of reasons. Furthermore, in shallow water, directive
sensors may not be very helpful.
Acoustic transmission in shallow water is much more difficult than in deep water, since it suffers from the existance of many strong sound pathways to the destination,
276
involving varying numbers of surface and bottom reflections. Computer modelling(T,18) indicates that for 10kHz
transmission in 200m deep water, the Direct-to-Multipath
signal Ratio (DMR) may be as poor 88 6 dB at ranges of
less than lOOOm. Actual measurements in the ocean may
give even poorer DMR. Higher-frequency transmissions will
experience increased sea-water absorption attenuation for
the longer multiple-bounce pathways, but less than 5dB of
improvement is calculated at 50kHz, due to this effect.
Ts
Tu=BWI
3 -
(6)
fO--~
lot-to ~III 1-
= cos[w(t)t]
(3)
(4)
P(t)
w(t)
dl = Is - II
dt
Ts
(5)
II
277
BP
POWER
CONTROL
FO
DETECTOR
SWITCHEC
POWER
SWEEP
GEN
fLO = f(t) = Ii
dl
+ dt t + IIr
+5
(7)
v(t)
(8)
= fIr + 12M(t)
(9)
f(t)
4. Transmitter
The transmitter (figure 4) helps illustrate the simplicity
of the chirp telemetry scheme. A few low-data-rate controllable outputs from the instrument's microprocessor are
sufficient to operate the transmitter. These outputs include
the sweep generator power control, an enable for the output
driver as soon as the veo is stable, a start pulse (SP) shifting the frequency for a data trigger, a sweep enable (SE)
and the data bit (DB) modulation signal. Another line sets
the sweep rate (SR) to allow optimizating the system for
deepsea or shallow-water use.
0
I-.:. . =~=~=M=O=D N=A~=O=R=-_-=:?rnc~_+-,
BATTERY
SYSTEM
",p
SP SWEEP
VB
G=UE=L
II
ENABLE
TI
278
LI
R
rm
~I
At low frequencies, e.g. 10kHz, obtaining a transmit operating range of 5kHz is a challenge, due to the narrowband nature of a tuned acoustic transducer. In figure 4,
the reactive component of transducer Xl is removed using tuning coil L1, with a series resistor R1 to increase the
frequency range. In the 9 to 14kHz experiment to be described, a modified ITC type 3013 transducer (which normally has transmit-voltage-response peaks at 9 and 14kHz)
was used with a 22mHy choke and a 50 ohm damping resistor. A very acceptable calculated network output flatness
(+ 1402dB/V) was obtained over a 7.5 to 14kHz range,
and verified with pulsed measurements in the local YMCA
swimming pool. If necessary, a more complex network could
be devised. When operating the system with 5kHz sweeps
at 33kHz, using a custom-designed transducer, a damping
resistor is less important.
4.1 Power. In the deep ocean test, the output stage consisted of a pair of VMOS transistors driving a center-tapped
transformer with a regulated 12V input. This provided
about 20 watts of power into the transducer network and
yielded a modest calculated source level of + 179dB re l/LPa
at 1m, confirmed in the pool test. The current drain from
the instrument battery was less than 2A during transmission, a very acceptable level for any instrum.nt with several
,tacks of alkaline batteries.
4.2 Design Simplicity. Because I always miss the absence of electronic-circuit schematics at IEEE conferences,
I'll be sure to include one here. Figure 5 shows details of
the transmitter sweep generator and serves to further illustrate the simplicity of our new approach, while giving me
a chance to dispel any concerns over drifts, tuning, etc.
(10)
IK
R4
R3
R8
+1
4.99K rl
R5
SR
R6 R7
+2V
20K 165K 1%
Amplifier A2 (OP-90, chosen for low input current and offset voltage) is a ramp, which operates (when switch SE
opens) with an integration constant T =(R4+R5)C2. The
integrator uses voltage source trim R6 to allow two calibrated sweep rates according to the resistor ratio R4/R5
CI
+1
RO
RI
2f
R2
5
+1
E-......-. .- - - t
VR
279
'.
where SL is the source level (dB re 1tLPa at 1 yard), corrected for the transducer directivity index, r is the range
(yards - not km), a is the seawater attenuation coefficient
(less than 1dB/km for frequencies below 15kHz), NSL is the
ambient-noise spectral level (dB re 1tLPa/v1fz"), and BW
is the receiver bandwidth (Hz). The equation assumes a
low-noise receive preamp and does not include the improvement a directive receive transducer will provide in rejecting
(wind-generated) surface ambient noise, which could exceed
6dB.
Temp (OC)
0
3000
6000
20
4
4
Attenuation (dB/kyd)
@10kHz
@33kHz
0.65
4.S
O.SO
3,3
0.38
2.4
TEST
/;;/
280
;~ TRANSMIT
7},>I,p,,1
1. System Considerations
The receiver and transmitter of the acoustic modem each
occupy one card, as does the processor. The 33kHz transducer is very small, l.6-in (4cm) in diameter, and is constructed with an O-ring groove and 3/4-16 stud with embedded wires, to allow it to be screwed directly into an
endcap. Thus, the system can easily be added to many
existing designs. A standalone version mounted in a small
housing with a battery is planned as well.
During the experiment the transmitter variables were cycled through a variety of combinations using a parameter
table in the microprocessor's program. The parameters included: data rates (100 to 360 baud), modulation index
(300 and 500Hz), chirp sweep rate (10 and 40kHz/s), channel decay "quiet times" (62ms to 14s), transmit duration (1
to 10 bytes/record and 3 to 80 records) and the transmitted
data patterns.
8. Conclusion
It is our expectation that considerable improvement over
other traditional methods will be experienced with our new
swept-frequency telemetry, at a reduced cost. It is our hope
that our work will help lead to a greater and happier use
of acoustic telemetry in the ocean.
9. Acknowlegments
One of us (GC) wrote some of the transmitter software
and singlehandedly (!) performed the undersea experiment,
during the wee hours when the rest of the ship was asleep,
while another (DN) modified the IES undersea transmitter
and constructed preamps and prototype receivers to analyze the DAT tapes. Special thanks are due to Kevin Boyce
for creating a major portion of the original IES microprocessor code, to Dan Frye and others at WHO I for their
suggestions and review of telemetry system goals and to
Prof. Randy Watts at URI for his encouragement.
281
(ll) Zielinski, A. and Caldera (1985). Digital Acoustic Co=unications in Multipath Underwater Channels, Oceans '85, pp 129&-1301.
10. References
(I) Parker, B.B. (1985) Real-Time Oceanographic Model Systems: Present and
Future Applications, Oceans '85, Proc. IEEE-MTS Conf., pp W.-214.
(2) Urich, ILJ. (1982) Sound Propagation in the Sea, Peninsula Publishing, Los
Altos, CA, chapter 10-12.
(H) Gastounioties, C. and Moropoulos (1983). Programmable Deep Ocean Tranceiver, Oceans '83, pp 145-149.
(3) Coffey, D.M. and PaquetteiI985): Aaura<:y of Acoustic Multip'lh Timing i.ndRanging Predictions over Extended Ranges, Oceans '85, pp 480--489.
(4) Kearney, P.O. and Laufer (1984). Sonarlink - A Deep Ocean High Data Rate,
Adaptive Telemetry System, Oceans '84, pp 49-53.
(16) Eller, A.I. (1985). Implementation of Rough Surface Loss in Sonar Performance
Models, Oceans '85, pp 494-49S.
(17) Farmer, D. and Lemon (l984). The Influence of Bubbles on Ambient Noise in
the Ocean at High Wind Speed., J. Physical Oceanography, 14 (II), pp.1762-177S.
(6) Scally, D.R., Ryerson and Towles (1984). Acoustic Telemetry in an Automated
System for Long-Term Ocean Data in Real Time, Oceans '84, pp 74S-752.
(7) Towles, T.L. and Hauser (1986). ATZ - An Acoustic Telemetry System for
Collection of Subsurface Temperature Data from a Moored Buoy, MDS '86, Pro<:.
MTS Conf. on Marine Data Systems, Marine Tech. Soc., Wash. D.C., pp 178-181.
(8) Cronan, P.H. and Gonsalves (1983). ENDECO Type 1033 Directional Wa,.e de
Current Telemetry System, Proc 1983 Symposium on Buoy Technology, pp 292-298.
(20) Bowers, G. and Lanza (1986). Data Telemetry System for Wide Array Temperature Sensing, MDS '86, pp 216-220.
(9) Jacobsen, H.P., Vestgard and Knudsen (1982). Acoustic Control System, Oceans
'82, pp 10&-110.
(21) Backes, J.L., Bell and Miller (1983). Implementation of Error Detection and
Corr""tion Codes for Acoustic Data Telemetry, Oceans '83, pp 167-175.
(10) Garrood, D.J. and Miller (1982). Acoustic Telemetry for Underwater Control,
Oceans '82, pp 111-114.
(22) Fisher, F.H. and Sirrunons (1977). Sound Absorption in Sea Water, J. Acoustical Society of America, 62, p.558.
--+
20
10 Hz
50
100 Hz
200
500
1 kHz
heavy
10 kHz
frequency
,
50 kHz
20
~=------+----------~~----~~~--~~~:::::=~~~------~----~'--~----~-r-r~~~~-4~r-r;r-~r;-,------~--80
SHIPPING
NSLt
moderate
r-----~--------+_----~c-----~------_4--~~~--~~~~=---~------+_~~~~------+__70dB
light
r------+---------+------~----~~--~r_~~----_+~c_--4_----~~+_~~~~_?~~~--~~,~--60
50
.- .
--
~-
SNOW
2
30
40
...L-'--____- - - " _
282
20