Joint equalization and source-channel decoding algorithm for underwater acoustic communication

To improve the reliability of underwater acoustic communication, in this paper, we discuss a new approach that uses source redundancy for error control decoding of underwater acoustic communication, and we propose a joint equalization and source-channel decoding algorithm. The proposed algorithm can calculate the decoding metric by combining the source and channel transfer probabilities when the channel is modeled as an underwater acoustic multipath channel. This approach jointly optimizes source decoding, channel decoding, and channel equalization with linear complexity, and significantly improves the reliability of the underwater acoustic communication system. The sea trial results show that compared with the traditional joint equalization algorithm, the proposed algorithm effectively reduces the bit error rate. In the deep-sea convergence zone, the proposed algorithm reduces the bit error rate from 1.7×10-1 to 0 at the rate of 225 bit/s and in the deep-sea shadow zone, it reduces the bit error rate from 1.1×10-1 to 0 at the rate of 32.1 bit/s. In addition, the low complexity of the proposed algorithm is conducive to the realization of real-time communication, which gives it high application value. Copyright ©2020 Journal of Harbin Engineering University.