Design and performance analysis of a Digital Acoustic Telemetry System for the short range underwater channel

This paper presents the design and performance description of a microprocessor based Digital Acoustic Telemetry System (DATS). The system was used to transmit data over short range underwater paths and to measure the fading characteristics of a group of CW tones. This work reports on the test results from Woods Hole Harbor. The system has also been used for under-ice propagation experiments in Lake Caanan, NH, and in the Marginal Ice Zone near Svalbard. Geometries chosen for the tests are representative of the short range marine work site paths for which high data rate communications systems are desirable.