Coherence Bandwidth Effects on Underwater Image Transmission in Multipath Channel

The performance of an underwater acoustic communication system in shallow water is strongly affected by the water surface and the seabed acoustical properties. Time-variant water surface scattering and grazing-angle-dependent bottom reflection limit the received signal coherency. Consequently, the performance of underwater acoustic communication systems is degraded, and high-speed digital communication is disrupted. In this study, the authors consider two different multipath channels, such as a water tank and a river, and conduct experiments to quantify these effects on the image transmission using binary frequency shift keying (BFSK) modulation. The quality of the received image in a water tank experiment is shown to be affected by water surface scattering. In the 9-m-deep Nakdong river experiment, it is shown to be affected by grazing-angle-dependent bottom reflection. The analysis is based on the coherence bandwidth of the multipath channel response. (C) 2011 The Japan Society of Applied Physics