A portable multi-megabit optical fibre sonar sensor system

A novel optical fiber communication architecture based on a towed oceanic acoustic sonar sensor array system for very high data rate is reported. The proposed transmitter interface is unique compared to traditional sheath and cabling methods typically employed in this application. The result is a streamlined, portable, lightweight, optimized and efficient solution suitable for marine deployment. This technique offers enhanced performance compared to the traditional cable systems for passive sonar acoustic telemetry and communication systems. This paper describes the implementation and the systems design of these sensors, the data capture, and the high speed fiber transmission interface circuitry using multiple hydrophones. The transmitted signal is digitized, channel tagged, manipulated and controlled by an on board Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) as the system controller. The sonar optical fiber communication architecture is designed to be flexible and can be optimized for Optical Carrier (OC) specification OC1, any rate (> 20MBPS) to OC3 and beyond, by means of auto detecting an optional pluggable on-board daughter card module.