SBIR Phase II: Megabit-Per-Second Underwater Wireless Communications

该项目更广泛的影响和商业潜力在于引入了可用的高速无线调制解调器，并显著降低了深水作业的成本。业内专家估计，通过使用海底WiFi，可以节省近20%的深水作业成本。今天，水下没有宽带无线通信。在深海中，远程操作车辆（rov）需要一根缆绳进行通信和一艘支持船进行缆绳管理；传感器和系统必须物理连接，或者从深海中检索以交换数据。一艘ROV支持船的成本约为12万美元/天，2013年在ROV支持船上的花费超过了70亿美元。这项每秒兆比特的技术将允许ROV制造商和运营商切断他们许多车辆上的电缆。无线rov可以不受阻碍地在覆盖区域内移动，从任何地方（例如从休斯顿）驾驶，不需要昂贵的水面舰艇。提出的无线调制解调器技术将rov和机械连接到有线基础设施，使重型海底机械安全运行，而不会缠绕电缆或系绳，造成损坏或更糟的情况。该项目将在未来三年内创造10个新的就业机会，随着生产规模的扩大，还将增加更多的就业机会。这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目旨在为海底工业开发更快、更可靠的无线通信系统。目前，深海的核心通信链路要么是拴着的，需要长长的、笨重的、昂贵的电缆来连接机器和系统，要么是极低的数据速率，只能完成最基本的任务。拟议的水下无线通信系统将提供类似wifi的数据速率在Mbps（兆比特/秒）范围内。比现有的水下无线通信技术快100到1000倍，并且可以实现视频流和水下基础设施、机械和移动水下航行器的实时控制。由于无线电信号不能在水下传播很远，因此拟议中的技术使用声波进行交流，就像鲸鱼和海豚那样。声音的传播速度比无线电传播速度慢20万倍，因此移动声波发射器和接收器遭受严重的多普勒失真。所提出的技术动态测量、跟踪和补偿这种失真，使无线通信以前所未有的水下数据速率实现。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the introduction of high-speedwireless modems usable subsea and significant cost reduction of deep-water operations ?industry experts estimate savings of nearly 20% of deep-water operations through theavailability of subsea WiFi. Today, there is no broadband wireless communication availableunderwater. In the deep ocean, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) require a tether forcommunication and a support ship for tether management; sensors and systems must either bephysically connected, or retrieved from the deep sea to exchange data. An ROV support shipcosts about $120k/day leading to over $7B spent on ROV support ships in 2013. The proposedmegabit-per-second technology would allow ROV manufacturers and operators to cut thetether on many of their vehicles. Wireless ROVs can move unencumbered throughout coveragearea, piloted from anywhere (e.g. from Houston), without expensive surface vessels. Theproposed wireless modem technology connects ROVs and machinery to wired infrastructure,enabling safe operation of heavy subsea machinery without the possibility of cables or tethersgetting tangled, causing damage or worse. This project will create 10 new jobs in the next threeyears, with many more to be added as the production scales.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 2 project proposes to develop a fasterand more reliable wireless communication system for the sub-sea industry. Current state of theart communication links for the deep ocean are either tethered, requiring long, bulky, andexpensive cables to connect machinery and systems, or have extremely low data rates, enabling only the most rudimentary of tasks. The proposed underwater wireless communicationsystem will provide WiFi-like data rates in the Mbps (megabits/sec) range ? 100 to 1,000 timesfaster than existing underwater wireless communication technologies - and enable videostreaming and real-time control of subsea infrastructure, machinery, and mobile underwatervehicles. Since radio signals do not propagate far underwater, the proposed technology usessound waves, as whales and dolphins do, for communication. The speed of sound is 200,000times slower than the speed of radio propagation, and mobile acoustic transmitters andreceivers hence suffer from severe Doppler distortion. The proposed technology dynamicallymeasures, tracks, and compensates for this distortion, to enable wireless communication atdata rates never before possible underwater.