Underwater wireless video transmission for supervisory control and inspection using acoustic OFDM

We study the feasibility of video transmission using an acoustic system for deep-sea oilfield supervisory control and inspection. Such a system is of interest over short distance links, with short delays and high available bandwidth, as near realtime imagery can be transmitted to monitor targeted underwater spots. This work includes three parts: (1) noise characterization for deep-sea oilfield environments, (2) video compression to reduce the amount of data to be transmitted through the channel, and (3) OFDM modulation to achieve high bit rates over the underwater link. Experimental testing was conducted at the MIT Sailing Pavilion premises, in the Charles River, Boston. The results demonstrate the usefulness of the coupled MPEG-4 compression and OFDM modulation, reaching bit rates on the order of 90 kbps in a 115 kHz acoustic band over a 200-meter link under a variety of channel conditions.