Multi-path Penalty metric in underwater acoustic communication for autonomy and human decision-making
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 2021. A novel performance metric to improve underwater digital acoustic communication...
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
2021
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ftwhoas:oai:darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org:1912/27427 2023-05-15T15:12:41+02:00 Multi-path Penalty metric in underwater acoustic communication for autonomy and human decision-making Howard, Bradli A. 2021-09 https://hdl.handle.net/1912/27427 en_US eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/27427 doi:10.1575/1912/27427 doi:10.1575/1912/27427 Multi-path Penalty Acoustics Metric Thesis 2021 ftwhoas https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/27427 2022-10-22T22:57:11Z Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 2021. A novel performance metric to improve underwater digital acoustic communication, called Multipath Penalty (MPP), is proposed as an alternative to traditional signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) methods in the context of the Arctic Beaufort Sea. MPP and SNR are compared alongside a third performance metric, Minimum Achievable Error (MAE), which replicates the operation of a channel estimate-based decision feedback equalizer in an acoustic modem. The three metrics are then tested in a hardware-in-the-loop Virtual Ocean simulator for an autonomous undersea vehicle (AUV) communicating with a collaborator. Using field data of modem statistics obtained duringICEX20 and expanded data supplied by the simulator, calibration of the three metrics to modem packet success is evaluated, resulting in a proposed recalibration for MAE. The AUV’s ability to communicate when adaptively choosing its depth is analyzed above and below the Beaufort Lens, and settings for MPP’s engineering variables are obtained. The results show MPP generally improves reception and demodulation of acoustic transmissions over SNR by approximately 5% within an operational range of 8 km, while achieving similar results to the more robust metric MAE. MPP is an improved utility for underwater digital acoustic communication in both marine autonomy and as a tactical decision aid. This work would not be possible without the extraordinary support of the United States Navy, which provided funding for this research, my degree, and my livelihood as an active duty submarine officer. Thesis Arctic Beaufort Sea Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) Arctic |
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Woods Hole Scientific Community: WHOAS (Woods Hole Open Access Server) |
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English |
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Multi-path Penalty Acoustics Metric |
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Multi-path Penalty Acoustics Metric Howard, Bradli A. Multi-path Penalty metric in underwater acoustic communication for autonomy and human decision-making |
topic_facet |
Multi-path Penalty Acoustics Metric |
description |
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution September 2021. A novel performance metric to improve underwater digital acoustic communication, called Multipath Penalty (MPP), is proposed as an alternative to traditional signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) methods in the context of the Arctic Beaufort Sea. MPP and SNR are compared alongside a third performance metric, Minimum Achievable Error (MAE), which replicates the operation of a channel estimate-based decision feedback equalizer in an acoustic modem. The three metrics are then tested in a hardware-in-the-loop Virtual Ocean simulator for an autonomous undersea vehicle (AUV) communicating with a collaborator. Using field data of modem statistics obtained duringICEX20 and expanded data supplied by the simulator, calibration of the three metrics to modem packet success is evaluated, resulting in a proposed recalibration for MAE. The AUV’s ability to communicate when adaptively choosing its depth is analyzed above and below the Beaufort Lens, and settings for MPP’s engineering variables are obtained. The results show MPP generally improves reception and demodulation of acoustic transmissions over SNR by approximately 5% within an operational range of 8 km, while achieving similar results to the more robust metric MAE. MPP is an improved utility for underwater digital acoustic communication in both marine autonomy and as a tactical decision aid. This work would not be possible without the extraordinary support of the United States Navy, which provided funding for this research, my degree, and my livelihood as an active duty submarine officer. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Howard, Bradli A. |
author_facet |
Howard, Bradli A. |
author_sort |
Howard, Bradli A. |
title |
Multi-path Penalty metric in underwater acoustic communication for autonomy and human decision-making |
title_short |
Multi-path Penalty metric in underwater acoustic communication for autonomy and human decision-making |
title_full |
Multi-path Penalty metric in underwater acoustic communication for autonomy and human decision-making |
title_fullStr |
Multi-path Penalty metric in underwater acoustic communication for autonomy and human decision-making |
title_full_unstemmed |
Multi-path Penalty metric in underwater acoustic communication for autonomy and human decision-making |
title_sort |
multi-path penalty metric in underwater acoustic communication for autonomy and human decision-making |
publisher |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/27427 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Beaufort Sea |
genre_facet |
Arctic Beaufort Sea |
op_source |
doi:10.1575/1912/27427 |
op_relation |
WHOI Theses https://hdl.handle.net/1912/27427 doi:10.1575/1912/27427 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1575/1912/27427 |
_version_ |
1766343334708641792 |