PFI-TT: Prototyping a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Single-Carrier Modulation Turbo Transceiver for Robust Underwater Wireless Communications.

这一PFI项目的广泛影响/商业潜力正在使几个水下技术市场实现可靠的无线通信，这些市场包括海洋勘探和发现、水下娱乐、渔业、海底石油和天然气行业、水下环境和基础设施监测以及军事。该项目旨在使水下无线通信链路的可靠性和信息数据速率比现有技术提高一个数量级。当应用于自主水下机器人(AUV)和无线传感器网络时，该技术在降低运营成本、提高效率、降低安全风险以及实现水下物联网(Iout)等新功能方面具有巨大潜力。从工程和创业角度发展的多学科教育和学生培训通过吸引女性和代表不足的群体进一步影响下一代劳动力。拟议的项目弥合了多输入多输出(MIMO)Turbo收发器的MatLab后处理和实时硬件实现之间的知识鸿沟。一种MIMO收发机，通过多个发送单元发送多个数据流以提高数据速率，并使用多个接收单元来提高可靠性。通过海上实验和后处理证明，利用先进的纠错编码和信道均衡技术，Turbo接收机可以有效地对抗恶劣的水声通信信道。本项目的主要目标是设计和验证一个原型，演示MIMO Turbo收发信机在水声环境中的实时操作，在1-10公里距离内实现50-100千比特/秒(Kbps)的信息数据速率，可靠性为99.99%。这至少是对现有水声通信系统的一个数量级的改进。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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 PFI project is enabling reliable wireless communications in several underwater technology markets which include ocean exploration and discovery, underwater recreation, fishery industry, subsea oil and gas industry, underwater environmental and infrastructure monitoring, and military. The project aims at increasing reliability and information data rates in underwater wireless communication links by an order of magnitude over existing technologies. When applied to Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and wireless sensor networks, the proposed technology leads to great potential in reducing operational costs, improving efficiency, reducing safety risks, and enabling new capabilities such as Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT). The development of multidisciplinary education and student training from both engineering and entrepreneurial perspectives further impacts the next generation workforce by attracting women and underrepresented groups.The proposed project bridges the knowledge gap between Matlab post-processing and real-time hardware implementations of Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Turbo transceivers. A MIMO transceiver transmits multiple data streams via multiple transmit elements to increase data rate, and uses multiple receive elements to improve the reliability. The past research of the principle investigator have demonstrates via ocean experiments and post processing that Turbo receiver is effective in combatting hostile underwater acoustic communication channels by utilizing advanced error-correction coding and channel equalization. The main goal of this project is to design and validate a prototype that demonstrates real-time operation of the MIMO Turbo transceiver in underwater acoustic environment, achieving 50 - 100 kilo-bits-per-second (kbps) information data rate over 1 - 10 km distance and at 99.99% reliability. This is at least an order of magnitude improvement over existing underwater acoustic communication systems.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.