Heterogeneous Underwater Networks for ASW: Technology and Techniques

NATO's research and technology objectives for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) include persistent scalable heterogeneous wide-area surveillance networks for the littoral environment. Network and system design considerations for a defined mission objective include communication bandwidth, command and control, sensor type, sensor autonomy, interoperability, interference, data fusion architecture, on-board processing, and for the operational level sonar frequencies, pulse types and bandwidths. Moreover, sonar performance prediction tools, rapid environmental assessment (REA) and tactical planning aids are crucial contributions to mission success. In the last decades NURC has extensively researched multistatic active sonar both for ship- and buoy-based systems. In the coming years NATO's emphasis for the underwater battlespace will shift towards networked solutions including both fixed and mobile sensor nodes. To facilitate this change, a research programme has been launched at NURC that employs both autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) equipped with towed arrays and autonomous bottomed nodes that include a cocktail of both acoustic and non-acoustic sensors. All sensors can be linked in a communication network. This article focuses on NURC's present research in the field, highlighting: system design considerations, progress to date and a proposed roadmap for future development.