Method to Supply Acoustic Positioning and Communication Service Simultaneously for Underwater Multiple Users

A method to supply acoustic positioning and communication service simultaneously for underwater multiple users is provided in this paper. It has three modes: integrated positioning and communication mode, independent positioning mode and independent communication mode. All three modes share the same hardware circuit and transducer to realize the interoperability of underwater acoustic positioning service and underwater acoustic communication service. The method could provide positioning and communication service at the same time for HOV, AUV, ROV and underwater glider to achieve cooperative networking tasks. This method is achieved based on spread spectrum communication technology. Pseudo random noise codes are mainly applied as the identification of different equipment and can be used as the ranging code to achieve high-precision ranging. Based on the same hardware circuits and time synchronization, the integrated underwater acoustic positioning and communication are realized to save energy and space. Meanwhile, it also serve independent underwater acoustic positioning and communication to ensure the positioning and communication performance.