Cognitive Acoustics: Making Underwater Communications Environment-friendly

Abstract

Imagine an underwater world with hybrid acoustic users, as illustrated in Fig. 1. An oil drilling installation system may employ a sensor network with acoustic modems to monitor the deflection of the drill. In the same area there could also exist a bottom mounted data collection system using another underwater acoustic network (UAN) to communicate with surface buoys. Meanwhile, there could be autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) cruising in the water to inspect subsea oil pipelines and transmitting data wirelessly to their mothership. In addition, a few marine mammals, e.g. dolphins and whales, might be playing in the neighborhood, using the same acoustic channel to communicate with each other and search for food via echolocation. Now the question is: Will existing UANs work well in this scenario? Unfortunately, the answer is no.