MOORED INSTRUMENT HIGH SPEED ACOUSTIC TELEMETRY SYSTEM

THERE IS A REQUIREMENT FOR A RELIABLE, SECURE METHOD FOR RETRIEVAL OF DATA FROM MOORED INSTRUMENTATION ARRAYS. THESEARRAYS, WHICH CONTAIN CURRENT METERS, TIDE GAUGES, TEMPERATURE SENSORS, AND OTHER OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTS, ACQUIRE AND STORE DATA OVER A PERIOD OF WEEKS OR MONTHS AND THEN ARE RETRIEVED, THE RESTORED DATA RECOVERED, AND THE INSTRUMENTS REDEPLOYED. RETRIEVAL AND DEPLOYMENT IS AN EXPENSIVE AND OFTEN RISKY OPERATION, AS SHIP TIME IS COSTLY AND THERE IS ALWAYS THE RISK OF DAMAGE TO THE INSTRUMENTS. THIS PROPOSAL PRESENTS A CONCEPT FOR A HIGH SPEED, SECURE, AND RELIABLE DATA TELEMETRY SYSTEM USING A SPREAD SPECTRUM TRANSMISSION TECHNIQUE. THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO INTERFACE WITH ANY OF THE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTS AND PROVIDE EITHER REAL-TIME OR BATCH TRANSMISSION OF DATA TO A SURFACE RECEIVER. THE GOAL OF THE PHASE I EFFORT IS TO PROVE CONCEPT FEASIBILITY THROUGH THE TEST AND EVALUATION OFA PROTOTYPE ACOUSTIC MODEM AND TO PROVIDE A DETAILED DESIGN SPECIFICATION ENCOMPASSING THE INTERFACE AND PACKAGING REQUIREMENTS NECESSARY FOR INTEGRATION WITH MOORED INSTRUMENTATION.