Underwater Acoustic MIMO Communications: Problems, Challenges and Experimental Results

Presenter: Dr. Chengshan Xiao

Professor, FIEEE, Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA

Program Director, ECCS Division, National Science Foundation, USA

    Abstract: Underwater Acoustic Communications (UWAC) have been very active research topics in the last several years, due to their vast applications for environmental monitoring, scientific exploration, disaster prevention, coastline protection, and territory surveillance. However, UWAC are extremely challenging for three main reasons: first, the available channel bandwidth is very limited; second, the multipath delay is excessively long; third, the Doppler spread effect is significantly large. In this talk, we present the underwater wireless communications with a focus on acoustic MIMO communication systems. The commonality and difference between RF wireless and underwater acoustic communications are reviewed in terms of physical layer properties. The key problems, challenges and current solutions for acoustic MIMO communications are discussed, and undersea experimental results are illustrated. Future work will also be discussed.

    Biography: Chengshan Xiaois a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, USA.He is currently serving as a Program Director at USA National Science Foundation through IPA assignment.His research interests include wireless communications, signal processing, and underwater acoustic communications. He is the holder of three U.S. patents. His algorithms were implemented in Nortel's base station radios after successful field trials and network integration.

    Prof. Xiao is an IEEE Fellow. He served as an elected member of Board of Governors, a member of Fellow Evaluation Committee, Director of Conference Publications, and Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Communications Society. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, the Technical Program Chair of the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Communications, and the founding Chair of the IEEE Wireless Communications Technical Committee. He received several distinguished awards including 2014 Humboldt Research Award, 2014 IEEE Communications Society Joseph LoCicero Award, and 2015 IEEE Wireless Communications Technical Committee Recognition Award.