Reduction of the Multipath Propagation Effect in a Hydroacoustic Channel Using Filtration in Cepstrum

Sensors (Basel). 2020 Jan 29;20(3):751. doi: 10.3390/s20030751.

Abstract

During data transmission in a hydroacoustic channel, one of the problems is the multipath propagation effect, which leads to a decrease in the transmission parameters and sometimes completely prevents it. Therefore, we have attempted to develop a method, which is based on a recorded hydroacoustic signal, that allows us to recreate the original (generated) signal by eliminating the multipath effect. In our method, we use cepstral analysis to eliminate replicas of the generated signal. The method has been tested in simulation and during measurements in a real environment. Additionally, the influence of the method on data transmission in the hydroacoustic channel was tested. The obtained results confirmed the usefulness of the application of the developed method and improved the quality of data transmission by reducing the multipath propagation effect.

Keywords: cepstrum; hydroacoustic channel; multipath propagation; sound propagation; underwater communication.