Modern computing technology applied to underwater acoustic positioning systems

Two of the enabling technologies of the 90s, graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and digital signal processing (DSP), are being applied to underwater acoustic positioning systems. The industry-standard IBM PC computing hardware architecture running the Microsoft Windows operating system and GUI provides designers of acoustic positioning systems with a low-cost, yet powerful, system architecture for the processing of user input and the presentation of positioning data. The popularity of MS Windows almost guarantees that a user interface designed around it will have a familiar “look and feel” to potential users, providing for a system which is easier to learn and use than found in the past. Digital signal processing provides a powerful, flexible, and low-cost means by which to perform acoustic signal detection. The Nautronix RS910 series Ultra-short Baseline/Long Baseline Acoustic Positioning System uses embedded DSPs to perform acoustic signal processing and an industrial PC running MS Windows to perform user interface and data storage functions. Designed as the successor to the Honeywell RS900 series systems, the RS910 replaces the analog signal processing system with a much more flexible DSP-based system