Estimation of high data rate underwater acoustic communication channel capacity

Abstract

Underwater acoustic channels (UACh) require robust techniques to obtain high speed data transmission for reliable communication. This paper presents the adaptive transmission technique, in conjunction with the maximal ratio combining (MRC) diversity technique, to adapt UACh fluctuation based on a statistical channel model. Simulation analysis shows that the data rate can be optimised allowing transmitted power to vary with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), subject to an average power constraint. It also shows that the data rate can be increased under adaptive techniques in conjunction with two-branch diversity. Under the optimum data rate, the Matlab simulink of the UACh quaternary phase-shift keying (QPSK) communication system provides a benchmark for experiment to be carried out in the actual environment.