Interference suppression for code-division multiple-access communications in an underwater acoustic channel

In a code-division multiple-access communications network, the signal from a nearby user often creates a strong interference for the signal from a distant user. This is known as the near-far problem. Power control of source levels is ineffective in an underwater acoustic channel due to the slow sound speed. Interference rejection based on code orthogonality is ineffective using matched-filter processing due to the fact that multipath arrivals effectively destroy the code orthogonality and that the signal arrival times between different users are not synchronized. An algorithm, called hyperspace cancellation by coordinate zeroing, is used in this paper to remove/suppress interference. Using a fast Walsh-Hadamard transform (FWHT) based on the interferer's code sequence, the interference signal is enhanced and removed by coordinate zeroing. The residual signal is transformed back using an inverse FWHT. The filtered data, with the interference signal largely removed, are processed using the desired signal code sequence. Two methods previously developed for direct-sequence spread-spectrum communications in an underwater channel are used to extract the transmitted symbols. Low bit error rate (< 10(-2)) is found with the at-sea data for signal-to-interference ratio as low as -8 to -11 dB.