To cover distances in excess of a hundred meters, acoustic signals must be used, while shorter distances can be covered using electro-magnetic waves. Acoustic propagation underwater is governed by three factors: a path loss that depends not only on the distance but also on the signal frequency, time-varying multipath propagation, and low speed of sound (1500 m/s). The usable acoustic bandwidth depends on the transmission distance: only a few kHz may be available at tens of kilometers, and tens of kHz at a few kilometers. Since acoustic propagation is best supported at low frequencies, the bandwidth is rarely negligible with respect to the center frequency, making the communication system inherently wideband, even if its total bandwidth is low in absolute terms. The poor quality of the physical link, akin to that of a land mobile radio channel, and the high latency, akin to that of a satellite radio channel, pose many challenges for the design of an acoustic communication system.
Research over the past two decades has focused on signal processing methods to overcome the multipath and Doppler distortions of the channel. Such research has resulted in several prototypes, as well as commercially available modems. Today's research remains active in the domain of low-complexity and/or improved-performance signal processing algorithms, while moving into the domain of underwater networks. Many fundamental problems that stem from the very nature of acoustic propagation remain open in this domain, ranging from the top-level network topology and architecture design, to specific protocols that will be able to make an efficient use of the limited power and bandwidth resources.
Technical Scope
We solicit original unpublished manuscripts not currently being considered elsewhere for publication. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following as they apply to underwater communications:
Schedule
Manuscript Due Date: May 15, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: August 1, 2008
Final Manuscript Due Date: September 1, 2008
Planned Publication Date: January 1, 2009
Submission Information
Articles should be tutorial in nature and should be written in a style comprehensible to readers outside the specialty of the field. All submissions will be reviewed based on technical merit, relevance and readability. Articles should have no more than 4,500 words, no more than 6 tables/figures, and no more than 15 references. Authors must follow the IEEE Communications Magazine's guidelines for preparation of the manuscript. Complete guidelines for prospective authors can be found at www.comsoc.org/pubs/commag/sub_guidelines.html. All articles to be considered for publication must be submitted through IEEE Manuscript Central (http://commag-ieee.manuscriptcentral.com). Select "January 2009/Underwater Communications" from the drop down menu in order to have your manuscript submitted to this feature topic.
Guest Editors
| Dr. Milica Stojanovic | Dr. Alexander Sutin |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stevens Institute of Technology |
| 292 Main Street - E38-376 | Castle Point on Hudson |
| Cambridge, MA 02118 | Hoboken, NJ 07030 |
| millitsa@mit.edu | asutin@stevens.edu |