Reliable OFDM Data Transmission with Pilot Tones and Error-Correction Coding in Shallow Underwater Acoustic Channel

The performance of Underwater Acoustic Communication (UAC) systems are strongly related to the specific propagation conditions of the underwater channel. Horizontal, shallow-water channels are characterised by extremely disadvantageous transmission properties, due to strong multipath propagation and refraction phenomena. The paper presents the results of communication tests performed during a shallow, inland-water experiment with the use of a laboratory model of a UAC system implementing the Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technique. The physical layer of data transmission is partially configurable, enabling adaptation of the modulation and channel coding parameters to the specific propagation conditions. The communication tests were preceded by measurement of the UAC channel transmission properties. Based on the estimated transmission parameters, four configurations of OFDM modulation parameters were selected, and for each of them, communication tests were performed with the use of two Error-Correction Coding (ECC) techniques. In each case, the minimum coding rate was determined for which reliable data transmission with a Bit Error Rate (BER) of less than 10(-4) is possible.