STTR Phase I: Video Transmission Through Underwater Wireless Links

这项小型企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是在需要空中和水下作业的应用中实现能力。空中-水下无人机是第一批能够在空中飞行，在水中游泳，并在空气和水之间快速转换的无人机。该项目旨在通过水声通信为无人机配备视频传输能力，使无人机无需系绳即可在水下操作。凭借这些能力，无人机可用于关键基础设施测绘、沿海环境监测、应急响应、海岸监视和搜救行动。水下视频传输技术还可以应用于其他平台，扩展水下无线和移动互联网。反过来，这种能力有可能实现水下物联网。该项目的商业潜力解决了现有产品的痛点：低数据速率和大尺寸。增强型无人机将使混合动力车辆创造一个自主水下航行器（auv）或无人机系统（UASs）无法服务的新市场。这项小型企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目将为空中-水下无人机设计并制作一个小型声学通信系统的原型，使其能够通过水下无线链路实现高数据速率的视频传输。所提出的声通信系统的智能优点包括：1)在嵌入式GPU（图形处理单元）上实现新型MIMO（多输入多输出）发射器的实时硬件实现，使系统可以由电池供电，并适合于小型防水容器；2)在FPGA（现场可编程门阵列）平台上实现Turbo均衡接收器的实时硬件实现，以对抗声学通道的巨大多普勒传播和长多径回波；3)通过水声链路实现超过300 KBPS的高信息数据速率的视频传输；4)将小尺寸水声发射机与空-水下无人机集成，不干扰无人机的操作。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project is the enabling capabilities in applications that call for both in-air and underwater operations. The aerial-underwater drones are the first drones that can fly in air, swim in water, and transition swiftly between air and water. This project aims to equip the drones with video transmission capabilities through underwater acoustic communication so that the drone need not be tethered to operate underwater. With the enabling capabilities, the drone is useful in critical infrastructure mapping, coastal environment monitoring, emergency response, coastal surveillance, and search and rescue operations. The underwater video transmission technology can also be applied to other platforms to extend underwater wireless and mobile internet. The capability, in turn, has the potential to enable Internet of Underwater Things. The commercial potential of the project addresses the pain points of the existing products: the low data rate and large form factor. The enhanced drone will enable the hybrid vehicle to create a new market that is unserved by either Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs).This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will design and prototype a small form factor acoustic communication system for aerial-underwater drones enabling them to achieve high data-rate video transmission over underwater wireless links. The intellectual merits of the proposed acoustic communication system include: 1) real-time hardware implementation of a novel MIMO (multiple-input-multiple-output) transmitter on an embedded GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) such that the system can be powered by battery and be fit in a small water-proof container, 2) real-time hardware implementation of a Turbo equalization receiver on an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) platform to combat the huge Doppler spread and long multipath echoes of acoustic channels, 3) video transmission by a high information data rate of more than 300 kbps over underwater acoustic links, and 4) integration of the small form factor acoustic transmitter with the aerial-underwater drones without interfering with the operation of the drones.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.