Method and apparatus for carrying out high data rate and voice underwater communication

• US 6,130,859 A
• Filed: 11/25/1998
• Issued: 10/10/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Divecomm Incorporated, Elazar Sonnenschein, Underwater Technology Center Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Divecomm Incorporated
• Inventors: Sonnenschein, Elazar, Wulich, Dov, Sonnenschein, Menashe
• Primary Examiner(s): Lobo, Ian J.
• Application Number:
  US09/199,832
• Time in Patent Office: 685 Days
• Field of Search: 367/134, 367/901, 367/902, 367/904, 340/850
• US Class Current: 367/134
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/02 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the earth or a large mass of water thereon, e.g. earth telegraphy
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 367/904 Doppler compensation systems

Abstract

An underwater apparatus for transmitting and receiving high rate data and voice communication including a transmitter, a receiver, and a Doppler frequency shift compensator. The transmitter includes a data source comprising digital data to be transmitted by the apparatus through the water, a serial-to-parallel data processor for splitting the serial digital data into n parallel data channels, a n-channel modulator for receiving the n parallel data channels and for modulating those channels with n pairs of ultrasonic carriers to produce a modulated signal. The transmitter also includes a hydrophone for receiving and transmitting the modulated signal. The receiver includes a hydrophone for receiving a modulated signal. The receiver also includes RF circuitry for amplifying and shaping the received modulated signal, a serial-to-parallel data processor for splitting the amplified and shaped data into n parallel channels, a n-channel demodulator for demodulating the shaped signal and for outputting n channels of digital data, and a parallel-to-serial data processor for receiving n parallel channels of data from the demodulator and for combining those channels into serial data. The Doppler compensator measures the frequency of at least one of two unmodulated signals transmitted as part of the modulated signal and compares the measured frequency with a predetermined frequency. Operation of the demodulator is adjusted to compensate for any deviation between the measured and predetermined frequency.

Claims

1. An underwater modulator-demodulator (modem) apparatus for transmitting and receiving data at a high rate through water, said modem comprising:

a. A transmitting section comprising;

data source means, comprising digital data to be transmitted through water;

serial-to-parallel data processing means, for splitting a serial data into n parallel channels;

n-channel modulator means, for receiving data from said n parallel channels and for modulating the same with n pairs of ultrasonic carriers, thereby producing a modulated signal; and

hydrophone means, for receiving said modulated signal from said n channel modulator means, and for transmitting same into water;

b. A receiving section comprising;

hydrophone means, for receiving a modulated signal from the water, and for conveying the same into an RF circuit;

RF circuitry, for amplifying and shaping the received modulated signal, and for converting the received modulated signal to serial digital data and for conveying the same into serial-to-parallel means;

serial-to-parallel means, for receiving said serial digital data from the RF circuit, and for splitting the same into n parallel channels;

n-channel demodulator means, for demodulating said serial digital data conveyed to the demodulator from said RF circuit, and for outputting n parallel channels of digital data; and

parallel-to-serial means for receiving n parallel channels of outputted data from the demodulator means, and for converting the data into serial data; and

c. means for compensating for the Doppler effect on a transmitted signal propagating through water comprising, in the modulator means of the transmitting section, means for transmitting two unmodulated carriers and, in the receiving section, a frequency adjusting device for measuring the frequency of at least one of said two unmodulated carriers and for comparing said measured frequency with a predetermined frequency and for adjusting the n-channel demodulator means for any deviation between said measured frequency and said predetermined frequency.

2. An underwater modulator-demodulator (modem) apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the n-channel modulator means at the transmitting section is an n-channel OFDM modulator means that receives data from the n parallel channels and modulates the data with n pairs of orthogonal ultrasonic carriers, thereby producing a modulated signal, and wherein the n-channel demodulator means at the receiving section is an n-channel OFDM demodulator means that demodulates the serial digital data conveyed to the n-channel OFDM demodulator means from the RF circuit with n pairs of orthogonal ultrasonic sines, and outputs n channels of digital data.

3. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the transmitting section further comprises an n-channel differential encoder for receiving data from the serial-to-parallel means, for differentially encoding the data on each one of said n channels, and for providing the differentially encoded data to the n-channel OFDM modulator, and wherein the receiving section further comprises an n-channel differential decoder for receiving n channels of demodulated data from the demodulator, and for differentially decoding said n channels of demodulated data.

4. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said frequency adjusting device compensates for Doppler effects by changing the frequency of each one of said n pairs of orthogonal sines of the OFDM demodulator by the deviation between said measured frequency and said predetermined frequency.

5. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 2, wherein at least said n-channel OFDM modulator at said transmitting section and said demodulator at said receiving section comprises a DSP, incorporated within an integrated circuit.

6. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting hydrophone and said receiving hydrophone are incorporated within a same hydrophone.

7. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophone is multidirectional hydrophone.

8. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting section further comprises a Forward Error Correcting (FEC) device for receiving the digital data to be transmitted, for encoding the same by at least one error correcting code, and for outputting the same to the serial-to-parallel device of the transmitting section.

9. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving section and the transmitting section are contained within the same case.

10. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiving section and the transmitting section are contained in separate cases.

11. An underwater modulator-demodulator (modem) apparatus according to claim 1 for transmitting and receiving sound through water, wherein:

in the transmitting section the data source means comprises, a microphone for receiving a sound and converting it to an analog electric signal, and a voice encoder for receiving said analog electric signal and converting the same to digital data; and

the receiving section further comprises a voice decoder for receiving the serial data from said parallel to serial means and converting said serial data to an analog electric signal, and loudspeaker means for converting the analog electric signal into sound.

12. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said voice encoder at said transmitting section is a vocoder operating in a voice encoding mode.

13. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said voice decoder at said receiving section is a vocoder operating in a voice decoding mode.

14. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said sound is a voice of a diver.

15. An underwater modulator-demodulator apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said loudspeaker means are earphones of a diver.

16. A method for carrying out a high data rate underwater communication, comprising the following steps:

(i) In a transmitting section, transmitting data by;

a. Providing a serial data in digital form to be transmitted;

b. Providing means for splitting the serial data into n parallel channels, and assigning symbols to groups of data bits;

c. Modulating said symbols by an n-channels OFDM modulator;

d. Providing two unmodulated carriers as part of said OFDM modulated data; and

e. Transmitting said OFDM modulated data, including said two unmodulated carriers, through a hydrophone, into the water; and

(ii) In a receiving section, receiving said transmitted OFDM modulated data by;

a. Receiving said transmitted OFDM modulated data, including said two unmodulated carriers, by a hydrophone;

b. Measuring the frequency of at least one of said two unmodulated carriers;

c. Comparing said measured frequency of said at least one of said two unmodulated carriers with a predetermined frequency;

d. Adjusting an n-channels OFDM demodulator for any deviation between said measured frequency and said predetermined frequency;

e. Demodulating the received signal by said n-channel OFDM demodulator;

f. Decoding the demodulated data into n channels; and

g. Converting the data from said n channels from parallel into serial form.

17. A method for carrying out a high data rate underwater communication according to claim 16, wherein said receiving and said transmitting are performed within a same casing.

18. A method for carrying out a high data rate underwater communication according to claim 17, wherein said receiving hydrophone and said transmitting hydrophone are incorporated within a same hydrophone.

19. A method for carrying out a high-rate underwater communication according to claim 16, wherein said receiving hydrophone and said transmitting hydrophone are multidirectional hydrophones.

20. A method for carrying out a high-rate underwater communication according to claim 16, wherein the time duration of each symbol includes a guard time.

21. A method for carrying out a high-rate underwater communication according to claim 20, wherein said guard time is used for symbol synchronization at said receiving end.

22. A method for carrying out a high-rate underwater communication according to claim 16, wherein said serial data provided for transmission is an electric signal representing sound, which is converted to serial data by a voice encoder, and said outcome serial data is converted into an electric signal representing sound.

23. An underwater communication apparatus for transmitting and receiving data comprising:

a transmitter comprising;

a digital data source;

a serial-to-parallel converter for receiving serial digital data from said digital data source and for converting said received serial digital data to more than two parallel data channels;

a multi-channel modulator for receiving more than two parallel data channels from said serial-to-parallel converter and for modulating each of said more than two parallel data channels with an ultrasonic carrier to produce a modulated signal; and

a transmitting hydrophone for receiving said modulated signal and for transmitting said modulated signal in water;

a receiver comprising;

a receiving hydrophone for receiving a modulated signal;

a RF circuit connected to said hydrophone for receiving therefrom said received modulated signal, said RF circuit amplifying and shaping said received modulated signal and converting said received modulated signal to serial data;

a serial-to-parallel converter for receiving said serial data from said RF circuit and for converting said serial data to more than two parallel data channels;

a multi-channel demodulator for receiving from said serial-to-parallel converter said more than two parallel data channels and for demodulating each of said more than two parallel data channels and for outputting more than two parallel data channels; and

a parallel-to-serial converter for receiving from said multi-channel demodulator said more than two parallel data channels and for converting said more than two parallel data channels into serial data; and

Doppler effect compensator comprising, in the multi-channel modulator, a transmitter for transmitting two unmodulated carriers and, in the receiver, a frequency adjusting device for measuring the frequency of at least one of said two unmodulated carriers and for comparing said measured frequency with a predetermined frequency and for adjusting said multi-channel demodulator for any deviation between said measured frequency and said predetermined frequency.

24. An underwater communication apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said multi-channel modulator is an n-channel OFDM modulator that receives more than two parallel data channels from said serial-to-parallel converter and modulates said received data with n pairs of orthogonal ultrasonic carriers, thereby producing a modulated signal, and wherein said multi-channel demodulator is an n-channel OFDM demodulator that receives more than two parallel data channels from said serial-to-parallel converter and demodulates said received data with n pairs of orthogonal ultrasonic sines, and outputs n parallel data channels.

25. An underwater communication apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said Doppler effect compensator compensates for Doppler effects by changing the frequency of each one of said n pairs of orthogonal sines of said OFDM demodulator by the deviation between said measured frequency and said predetermined frequency.

26. An underwater communication apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are contained within the same case.

27. An underwater communication apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said transmitter and said receiver are contained within separate cases.

28. An underwater communication apparatus according to claim 23, wherein a single hydrophone comprises said transmitting hydrophone and said receiving hydrophone.

29. An underwater communication apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said transmitting hydrophone and said receiving hydrophone each comprise a multidirectional hydrophone.

30. An underwater communication apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said transmitter further comprises a multi-channel differential encoder for receiving data on said more than two parallel data channels from said serial-to-parallel converter and for differentially encoding said data on each one of said more than two parallel data channels, and for providing the differentially encoded data to said multi-channel modulator, and wherein said receiver further comprises a multi-channel differential decoder for receiving more than two parallel data channels from said multi-channel demodulator, and for differentially decoding said more than two parallel data channels.

31. An underwater communication apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said transmitter further comprises a Forward Error Correcting (FEC) device for receiving digital data from said digital data source and for encoding said digital data by at least one error correcting code, said Forward Error Correcting (FEC) device outputting said encoded digital data to said serial-to-parallel converter.