Method and apparatus for underwater acoustic communication

摘要

Systems and methods are disclosed allowing for spatially separated nodes to transmit data to a single remote master receiver node in a synchronized way. Slave nodes can send acoustic data so that it travels through water and arrives at the master node exactly timed so that the data bit appears in a predetermined time slot. The next time slot could be a data bit coming from another remote or slave node in another direction and at a different distance. This can be repeated for many nodes and the incoming bits will be received in a time division multiplexed fashion at the receiver or master node. The senders address and bit meaning are implicit due to the time slot in which they arrive. The assumption is that all nodes have accurate synchronized time as well as the ability to accurately estimate sound travel time between itself and any master node.

主权项

1. A method for communicating data underwater between at least one master node and a plurality of slave nodes, the master and slave nodes having synchronized clocks, comprising:
defining time slots during which the master node will receive data from at least one slave node; a slave node calculating, using a processor having access to information regarding a distance between the slave node and the master node, a time to acoustically transmit data so that the acoustically transmitted data is received by the master node during a defined time slot; the slave node, at the calculated time, acoustically transmitting the data; and receiving the data transmitted by the slave node at the master node during the defined time slot.