Data Communications Using Guided Elastic Waves by Time Reversal Pulse Position Modulation: Experimental Study

In this paper, we present and demonstrate a low complexity elastic wave signaling and reception method to achieve high data rate communication on dispersive solid elastic media, such as metal pipes, using piezoelectric transducers of PZT (lead zirconate titanate). Data communication is realized using pulse position modulation (PPM) as the signaling method and the elastic medium as the communication channel. The communication system first transmits a small number of training pulses to probe the dispersive medium. The time-reversed probe signals are then utilized as the information carrying waveforms. Rapid timing acquisition of transmitted waveforms for demodulation over elastic medium is made possible by exploring the reciprocity property of guided elastic waves. The experimental tests were conducted using a National Instrument PXI system for waveform excitation and data acquisition. Data telemetry bit rates of 10 kbps, 20 kbps, 50 kbps and 100 kbps with the average bit error rates of 0, 5.75 x 10-4, 1.09 x 10-2 and 5.01 x 10-2, respectively, out of a total of 40, 000 transmitted bits were obtained when transmitting at the center frequency of 250 kHz and a 500 kHz bandwidth on steel pipe specimens. To emphasize the influence of time reversal, no complex processing techniques, such as adaptive channel equalization or error correction coding, were employed.