On the Relationship between Transmission Power and Capacity of an Underwater Acoustic Communication Channel

TL;DR

This paper develops a closed-form approximate model linking transmission power, bandwidth, and capacity in underwater acoustic channels, considering unique physical factors like frequency-dependent path loss and ambient noise.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approximate model that relates power, bandwidth, and capacity in underwater acoustic channels, aiding network design and analysis.

Findings

Derived closed-form approximations for power, bandwidth, and frequency as functions of distance and capacity.

Model accounts for physical acoustic propagation loss and ambient noise.

Potentially useful for designing efficient underwater acoustic communication networks.

Abstract

The underwater acoustic channel is characterized by a path loss that depends not only on the transmission distance, but also on the signal frequency. As a consequence, transmission bandwidth depends on the transmission distance, a feature that distinguishes an underwater acoustic system from a terrestrial radio system. The exact relationship between power, transmission band, distance and capacity for the Gaussian noise scenario is a complicated one. This work provides a closed-form approximate model for 1) power consumption, 2) band-edge frequency and 3) bandwidth as functions of distance and capacity required for a data link. This approximate model is obtained by numerical evaluation of analytical results which takes into account physical models of acoustic propagation loss and ambient noise. The closed-form approximations may become useful tools in the design and analysis of underwater acoustic networks.