Impact of Environmental Conditions
on Underwater Communications
Rahul Goswami
Advisor: Dr. Ali Abdi
Helen and John C. Hartmann Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
July 30, 2015
Abstract
Acoustic propagation can be characterized by attenuation that
increases with signal frequency, time-varying multipath
propagation and low speed of sound. Underwater acoustic
channels are considered to be one of the most difficult
communication media in use today. Sound propagates through
water at a speed of 1500 m/s and propagates along several
paths. The effect of such multipath propagation is interference
at the receiver end which hampers reception of the correct
information. There also exists ambient and site-specific noise in
underwater fading channels. The aim of this study is to focus
on the analysis of the Bit Error Rate (BER) with varying Signal-
to-noise ratio (SNR) for Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
modulated signals over various conditions in underwater
acoustic channels. With a primary objective of reducing the
BER, different sediments are introduced to the underwater
acoustic channel.
Objectives
The project deals with the following factors:  
 Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) modulation of
randomly generated signals.
 Non-coherent detection of the transmitted
signals at the receiver end.
 Underwater acoustic channels
 Analysis of multipath fading, absorption,
scattering by the water-bed sediments
 Comparing different water-bed conditions for
better detection of signals
Underwater Acoustic Channel
Speed of sound underwater
Absorption
Attenuation
Noise
Multipath
Doppler effect
Sound attenuation in sediment
Speed of Sound Underwater
Sound speed as a function of depth and ocean cross-section
Speed of sound underwater(1500 m/s)> Speed of sound in air (340 m/s)
Absorption & Attenuation
Path loss = Absorption Loss + Spreading Loss
The overall path loss is given by:
Doppler Effect
Sediment type K (spreading factor)
Very fine silt 0.17
Fine sand 0.45
Medium sand 0.48
Coarse sand 0.53
Sound attenuation in sediments
Experimental Process
Transmitter/Receiver Working Principle
BFSK Modulation Non coherent Demodulation
Simulation Results
Perfect detection at high SNR
(30 dB)
Incorrect detection at low SNR
(-5 dB)
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
amplitude(volt)
time(sec)
transmitting information as digital signal
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
-20
0
20
time(sec)
amplitude(volt)
waveform for binary FSK modulation coresponding binary information
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
-50
0
50
time(sec)
amplitude(volt)
waveform after passing through channel
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
amplitude(volt)
time(sec)
recived information as digital signal after binary FSK demodulation
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
amplitude(volt)
time(sec)
transmitting information as digital signal
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
-20
0
20
time(sec)
amplitude(volt)
waveform for binary FSK modulation coresponding binary information
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
-50
0
50
time(sec)
amplitude(volt)
waveform after passing through channel
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
amplitude(volt)
time(sec)
recived information as digital signal after binary FSK demodulation
Graphical Analysis
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
10
-3
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
Theoretical BER vs SNR Curve for BFSK over Rayleigh Fading channel
E
b
/N
o
(dB)
BER
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
10
-300
10
-200
10
-100
10
0
BER vs SNR Curve for BFSK over AWGN channel
BER
• BERAWGN < BERRayleigh
• BER decreases for high SNR
Experimental Observations
PLAIN WATER
SNR(i
n dB)
BER
-
0.3507
0.5028
0.1921 0.4868
0.208 0.4965
0.5053 0.2413
0.5523 0.0168
0.5655 0.0152
1.1123 0.0029
1.3421 0.0004
1.8143 0.00041
2.5 0.0003
PLAIN WATER
SNR(in
dB)
BER
-0.3507 0.5028
0.1921 0.4868
0.208 0.4965
0.5053 0.2413
0.5523 0.0168
0.5655 0.0152
1.1123 0.0029
1.3421 0.0004
1.8143 0.00041
2.5 0.0003
ROCK-BED
SNR(in
dB)
BER
-0.2829 0.5018
0.0262 0.4945
0.2081 0.4948
0.21 0.4528
0.2143 0.2253
0.2176 0.1698
0.221 0.0665
0.4186 0.0142
0.4295 0.0028
0.5134 0.0017
0.5567 0.0009
0.6601 0
0.6616 0.000166
ROCK-BED
SNR(in
dB)
BER
0.7528 0.0003
0.7615 0.0003
0.762 0.000166
0.7827 0.000166
0.7916 0.000166
0.7926 0.0003
0.8078 0.000166
0.8134 0.000166
0.821 0.000166
0.9127 0.000166
0.9213 0
0.9304 0.000166
0.9921 0.000166
SAND-BED
SNR(in
dB)
BER
-0.1458 0.4858
-0.0141 0.488
0.0315 0.3213
0.0642 0.2143
0.0932 0.2202
0.1816 0.0664
0.2597 0.0247
0.1121 0.1013
0.3023 0.0011
0.3142 0.0009
SAND-BED
SNR(in
dB)
BER
0.3219 0.0003
0.3803 0.0043
0.4119 0.0115
0.4213
0.00016
6
0.7135
0.00016
6
1.2137
0.00016
6
1.3121 0
1.5213 0
2.4316 0
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10
-4
10
-3
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
SNR(dB)
BitErrorRate
BER vs SNR plot for underwater communication scenarios
Rock-bed
Plain water
Sand-bed
B E R vs S NR plot for underwater com m unication scenarios
Rock-bed
P lain w ater
S and-bed
Data Transm ission R ate: 100 bits per second
Num ber of bits per transm ission: 6000
Frequency used for FS K m odulation: 6.9 kH z (for 0) and 7 kH z(for 1)
S am pling rate: 96000 sam ples per second
Experimental Analysis
Conclusion
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10
-4
10
-3
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
SNR(dB)
BitErrorRate
BER vs SNR plot for underwater communication scenarios
Rock-bed
Plain water
Sand-bed
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10
-4
10
-3
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
S N R (dB )
BitErrorRate
B E R vs S N R plot for underw ater com m unication scenarios
R oc k-bed
P lain w ater
S and-bed
D ata Transm iss ion R ate: 100 bits per second
N um ber of bits per transm ission: 6000
F requenc y used for F S K m odulation: 6.9 kH z (for 0) and 7 kH z(for 1)
S am pling rate: 96000 sam ples per sec ond
 BERwater>BERrocks>BERsand
Absorptionsand >Absorptionrocks
Scatteringrocks>Scatteringsand
1] Milica Stojanovic (Northeaster University) & James Preisig (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution):
Underwater Acoustic CommunicationChannels: Propagation Models and Statistical Characterization, January
2009
 [2] F. De Rango, F. Veltri, P. Fazio, D.E.I.S. Department, University of Calabria, Italy, 87036 : A Multipath
fading Channel model for Underwater Shallow Acoustic Communications
 [3] S. Anandalatchoumy & G. Sivaradje, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Pondicherry
Engineering College, Pondicherry, India : Comprehensive Study of Acoustic channel models for Underwater
wireless communication networks, International journal on Cybernetics & Informatics (IJCI), Vol 4 , No 2, April
2015
 [4] K. Saraswathi, Netravathi K. A., Dr. S. Ravishankar, Asst. Prof., RV College of Engineering, Bangalore : A
Study on channel modeling of underwater acoustic communication, International Journal of Research in
Computer andCommunication Technology, Vol 3, Issue 1, January- 2014
 [5] Emerson de Sousa Costa, Eduardo Bauzer Medeiros & Joao Batista Carvalho Filardi : Underwater Acoustics
modeling in finite depth shallow waters (Chp 22 of Modeling and Measurement Methods for Acoustic Waves
and for Acoustic Microdevices)  
[6] Dr. Aoife Moloney, School of Electronics & Communications, Dublin Institute of Technology: Non Coherent
Detection (Lecture 26), April 2005 
[7] Yoo Jung Kim : The Underwater Propagation of sound and its applications, Dartmouth Undergraduate
Journal of Science, March 11, 2012
References
Rahul PPT

Rahul PPT

  • 2.
    Impact of EnvironmentalConditions on Underwater Communications Rahul Goswami Advisor: Dr. Ali Abdi Helen and John C. Hartmann Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering July 30, 2015
  • 3.
    Abstract Acoustic propagation canbe characterized by attenuation that increases with signal frequency, time-varying multipath propagation and low speed of sound. Underwater acoustic channels are considered to be one of the most difficult communication media in use today. Sound propagates through water at a speed of 1500 m/s and propagates along several paths. The effect of such multipath propagation is interference at the receiver end which hampers reception of the correct information. There also exists ambient and site-specific noise in underwater fading channels. The aim of this study is to focus on the analysis of the Bit Error Rate (BER) with varying Signal- to-noise ratio (SNR) for Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) modulated signals over various conditions in underwater acoustic channels. With a primary objective of reducing the BER, different sediments are introduced to the underwater acoustic channel.
  • 4.
    Objectives The project dealswith the following factors:    Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) modulation of randomly generated signals.  Non-coherent detection of the transmitted signals at the receiver end.  Underwater acoustic channels  Analysis of multipath fading, absorption, scattering by the water-bed sediments  Comparing different water-bed conditions for better detection of signals
  • 5.
    Underwater Acoustic Channel Speedof sound underwater Absorption Attenuation Noise Multipath Doppler effect Sound attenuation in sediment
  • 6.
    Speed of SoundUnderwater Sound speed as a function of depth and ocean cross-section Speed of sound underwater(1500 m/s)> Speed of sound in air (340 m/s)
  • 7.
    Absorption & Attenuation Pathloss = Absorption Loss + Spreading Loss The overall path loss is given by:
  • 9.
    Doppler Effect Sediment typeK (spreading factor) Very fine silt 0.17 Fine sand 0.45 Medium sand 0.48 Coarse sand 0.53 Sound attenuation in sediments
  • 10.
  • 11.
    Transmitter/Receiver Working Principle BFSKModulation Non coherent Demodulation
  • 12.
    Simulation Results Perfect detectionat high SNR (30 dB) Incorrect detection at low SNR (-5 dB) 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 amplitude(volt) time(sec) transmitting information as digital signal 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 -20 0 20 time(sec) amplitude(volt) waveform for binary FSK modulation coresponding binary information 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 -50 0 50 time(sec) amplitude(volt) waveform after passing through channel 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 amplitude(volt) time(sec) recived information as digital signal after binary FSK demodulation 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 amplitude(volt) time(sec) transmitting information as digital signal 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 -20 0 20 time(sec) amplitude(volt) waveform for binary FSK modulation coresponding binary information 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 -50 0 50 time(sec) amplitude(volt) waveform after passing through channel 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 amplitude(volt) time(sec) recived information as digital signal after binary FSK demodulation
  • 13.
    Graphical Analysis -10 -50 5 10 15 20 25 30 10 -3 10 -2 10 -1 10 0 Theoretical BER vs SNR Curve for BFSK over Rayleigh Fading channel E b /N o (dB) BER -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 10 -300 10 -200 10 -100 10 0 BER vs SNR Curve for BFSK over AWGN channel BER • BERAWGN < BERRayleigh • BER decreases for high SNR
  • 16.
    Experimental Observations PLAIN WATER SNR(i ndB) BER - 0.3507 0.5028 0.1921 0.4868 0.208 0.4965 0.5053 0.2413 0.5523 0.0168 0.5655 0.0152 1.1123 0.0029 1.3421 0.0004 1.8143 0.00041 2.5 0.0003 PLAIN WATER SNR(in dB) BER -0.3507 0.5028 0.1921 0.4868 0.208 0.4965 0.5053 0.2413 0.5523 0.0168 0.5655 0.0152 1.1123 0.0029 1.3421 0.0004 1.8143 0.00041 2.5 0.0003 ROCK-BED SNR(in dB) BER -0.2829 0.5018 0.0262 0.4945 0.2081 0.4948 0.21 0.4528 0.2143 0.2253 0.2176 0.1698 0.221 0.0665 0.4186 0.0142 0.4295 0.0028 0.5134 0.0017 0.5567 0.0009 0.6601 0 0.6616 0.000166 ROCK-BED SNR(in dB) BER 0.7528 0.0003 0.7615 0.0003 0.762 0.000166 0.7827 0.000166 0.7916 0.000166 0.7926 0.0003 0.8078 0.000166 0.8134 0.000166 0.821 0.000166 0.9127 0.000166 0.9213 0 0.9304 0.000166 0.9921 0.000166 SAND-BED SNR(in dB) BER -0.1458 0.4858 -0.0141 0.488 0.0315 0.3213 0.0642 0.2143 0.0932 0.2202 0.1816 0.0664 0.2597 0.0247 0.1121 0.1013 0.3023 0.0011 0.3142 0.0009 SAND-BED SNR(in dB) BER 0.3219 0.0003 0.3803 0.0043 0.4119 0.0115 0.4213 0.00016 6 0.7135 0.00016 6 1.2137 0.00016 6 1.3121 0 1.5213 0 2.4316 0
  • 17.
    -1 0 12 3 4 5 6 7 10 -4 10 -3 10 -2 10 -1 10 0 SNR(dB) BitErrorRate BER vs SNR plot for underwater communication scenarios Rock-bed Plain water Sand-bed B E R vs S NR plot for underwater com m unication scenarios Rock-bed P lain w ater S and-bed Data Transm ission R ate: 100 bits per second Num ber of bits per transm ission: 6000 Frequency used for FS K m odulation: 6.9 kH z (for 0) and 7 kH z(for 1) S am pling rate: 96000 sam ples per second Experimental Analysis
  • 18.
    Conclusion -1 0 12 3 4 5 6 7 10 -4 10 -3 10 -2 10 -1 10 0 SNR(dB) BitErrorRate BER vs SNR plot for underwater communication scenarios Rock-bed Plain water Sand-bed -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 -4 10 -3 10 -2 10 -1 10 0 S N R (dB ) BitErrorRate B E R vs S N R plot for underw ater com m unication scenarios R oc k-bed P lain w ater S and-bed D ata Transm iss ion R ate: 100 bits per second N um ber of bits per transm ission: 6000 F requenc y used for F S K m odulation: 6.9 kH z (for 0) and 7 kH z(for 1) S am pling rate: 96000 sam ples per sec ond  BERwater>BERrocks>BERsand Absorptionsand >Absorptionrocks Scatteringrocks>Scatteringsand
  • 19.
    1] Milica Stojanovic(Northeaster University) & James Preisig (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution): Underwater Acoustic CommunicationChannels: Propagation Models and Statistical Characterization, January 2009  [2] F. De Rango, F. Veltri, P. Fazio, D.E.I.S. Department, University of Calabria, Italy, 87036 : A Multipath fading Channel model for Underwater Shallow Acoustic Communications  [3] S. Anandalatchoumy & G. Sivaradje, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry, India : Comprehensive Study of Acoustic channel models for Underwater wireless communication networks, International journal on Cybernetics & Informatics (IJCI), Vol 4 , No 2, April 2015  [4] K. Saraswathi, Netravathi K. A., Dr. S. Ravishankar, Asst. Prof., RV College of Engineering, Bangalore : A Study on channel modeling of underwater acoustic communication, International Journal of Research in Computer andCommunication Technology, Vol 3, Issue 1, January- 2014  [5] Emerson de Sousa Costa, Eduardo Bauzer Medeiros & Joao Batista Carvalho Filardi : Underwater Acoustics modeling in finite depth shallow waters (Chp 22 of Modeling and Measurement Methods for Acoustic Waves and for Acoustic Microdevices)   [6] Dr. Aoife Moloney, School of Electronics & Communications, Dublin Institute of Technology: Non Coherent Detection (Lecture 26), April 2005  [7] Yoo Jung Kim : The Underwater Propagation of sound and its applications, Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science, March 11, 2012 References