Low-Cost Underwater Communication System: A Pilot Study

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to present a simplified implementation of quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) based underwater communication system. The presented solution addresses the problem of developing inexpensive, compact ultrasound modems able to be mounted on underwater robots. Simplifications introduced into the modulation and demodulation of QPSK signals do not disturb any parameter of the data link. The paper indicates that it is possible to realize modulation and demodulation on a simple microcontroller. Many hints are given on how to use hardware blocks embedded in a microcontroller, such as ADC, DMA, timers, etc. Experiments performed with the prototype modems allow to reach 4 kbps data rate on a distance of about 18 m.