Review of the State of Acoustic Telemetry and Constraining the Adaptation Dimension for Acoustic Telemetry Systems

Abstract : LONG-TERM GOALS. The effort has two long term goals i) assess the state of the art of acoustic telemetry systems including demonstrated experimental performance and ii) improve the performance of telemetry systems by constraining adaptation dimensions. First, the review activity aims to provide both funding managers and researchers alike an unbiased assessment of what the underwater acoustic telemetry community has accomplished. By drafting such a comprehensive research map, discussions regarding future research directions may focus on clearly identified performance deficiencies. As an example, many existing telemetry systems either neglect or only grossly account for the underlying physical mechanisms that define the channel. A prominent theme of the review is that a more explicit incorporation of channel models in the design of receivers will yield improved performance. Posing and supporting assertions such as this is the fundamental objective of the review. The second set of research objectives is centered on controlling the degrees of freedom implemented in underwater acoustic telemetry receivers. Improved tap definition and placement should lead to increased levels of intersymbol interference suppression, higher channel tracking rates, and improved numerical stability in the equalizer algorithms.