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

由于无线电频率的高介质吸收和影响光波的散射问题，无线声通信是典型的水下物理层技术。然而，到目前为止，声学通信解决方案只支持延迟容忍的低带宽监测应用。相反，这项研究使来自移动的和静态海洋勘探平台的异构数据的近实时采集和处理成为可能。实现这一目标将提高监测关键海洋动力学现象的效率，如浮游植物生长和光合作用速率、盐度和温度梯度以及污染物浓度。为此，本研究研究了水下航行器间通信解决方案，旨在提高NSF海洋观测站计划（OOI）网络基础设施的能力。该项目的主要智力价值提供了两种形式的位置不确定性之间的区别。通常情况下，一个移动的车辆的位置的不确定性asestimated相对于本身（PI称为内部不确定性）是分布式水下机器人和网络的焦点。相比之下，PI引入了外部不确定性的新概念，其中移动车辆位置的不确定性由他人估计。具体来说，这个项目的重点是外部不确定性建模，设计可靠的水下通信解决方案，利用外部不确定性的概念，以及通过仿真和现场实验展示海洋科学技术中计算和通信资源整合的有效性。这项工作的更广泛影响之一是计算机的产生，在水下传感、通信和协调方面具有全面知识的本科和研究生研究人员。PI将创建新的分布式传感教学模块，提供交流计划的机会，在罗格斯大学现有的少数民族学生外展网络，并纳入学生交流计划以及团队教学方法。

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.