A Joint Sonar-Communication System Based on Multicarrier Waveforms

Jointdetection and communication systems demonstrate their unique efficiencies in both spectrum and cost. In this letter, we propose a sonar-communication (SonarCom) system for underwater scenarios based on two multicarrier (MC) waveforms, which are orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and orthogonal chirp division multiplexing (OCDM) waveforms. Different types of waveforms provide flexibilities to deal with various underwater environments. Furthermore, a generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) is proposed for detection to deal with multipath channels. Time aliasing techniques are applied to leverage the signal structure. Moreover, a minimum mean square error (MMSE) equalizer is developed for communication to counter frequency-selective fading. Simulation results show that the GLRT detector for the SonarCom system outperforms the existing matched filter (MF). The OCDM scheme maintains better communication performance than the OFDM one.