CAREER: Investigating Fundamental Problems for Underwater Multimedia Communication with Application to Ocean Exploration

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Wireless acoustic communication is the typical physical-layer technology underwaterbecause of the high medium absorption of radio frequencies and of the scatteringproblem affecting optical waves. As of today, however, acoustic communicationsolutions support only delay-tolerant low-bandwidth monitoring applications.Conversely, this research enables near-real-time acquisition and processing ofheterogeneous data from mobile and static ocean exploration platforms. Reaching thisgoal will improve the efficiency of monitoring key dynamic oceanographic phenomenasuch as phytoplankton growth and rate of photosynthesis, salinity and temperaturegradient, and concentration of pollutants. Toward this end, this research studiesunderwater inter-vehicle communication solutions aimed at enhancing the capabilities ofthe NSF's Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) cyberinfrastructure.The primary intellectual merit of this project offers the distinction between two forms ofposition uncertainty. Typically, uncertainty in the position of a mobile vehicle asestimated in relation to itself (which the PI refers to as internal uncertainty) is the focusof distributed underwater robotics and networking. By contrast, the PI introduces thenew notion of external uncertainty, in which uncertainty in the position of a mobilevehicle is estimated by others. Specifically, this project focuses on modeling externaluncertainty, on designing reliable underwater communication solutions that exploit theexternal-uncertainty notion, and on demonstrating the effectiveness of integratingcomputation and communication resources on marine science and technology throughemulations and field experiments.One of the broader impacts of this work is the generation of computer-literateundergraduate and graduate researchers with a comprehensive knowledge inunderwater sensing, communication, and coordination. The PI will create new teachingmodules on distributed sensing, provide opportunities for exchange programs, leverageexisting minority student outreach networks at Rutgers, and incorporate studentexchange programs as well as team-teaching approaches.