Hydronet: An Open, Modular, and Programmable Underwater Modem

Commercial technologies to create wireless networks of underwater unmanned vehicles (UUV) or static sensing devices are limited to a few proprietary solutions that fall short of providing the flexibility, performance, and ability to adapt their networking capabilities to the time-varying environments that characterize underwater missions in the military and commercial domains. In stark contrast, the commercial wireless domain is advancing at a fast pace. The 5G commercial ecosystem is proposing new architectures based on open interfaces, disaggregation of functionalities from the hardware fabric, and virtualization of networking functionalities, thus creating a fertile ecosystem for innovation. This project will build on a successful Phase II project to advance the functionalities of the Hydronet Wideband Modular Modem (WMM), a hardened, commercial-grade software-defined underwater modem with small form factor and the capabilities to operate acoustically/ultrasonically in the 0-10 MHz range, as well as with visible light modalities. Hydronet WMM is based on an open, modular architecture informed by developments in the commercial and open source communities. The Hydronet architecture provides the flexibility to define, add, update, and swap components in both hardware and software; as well as to develop control applications able to adapt the behavior of the modem for different environments and applications. Hydronet WMM has a fully programmable software architecture, which enables the capability to (i) add/update functionalities at all layers of the protocol stack; (ii) operate at every layer of the protocol stack with an option to hide the implementation details of each layer; (iii) implement cross-layer control strategies through a structured architecture; (iv) reprogram physical layer functionalities (i.e., modulation, coding, power, as well as switching between different physical layer schemes altogether) running on a programmable logic in real time; and (v) natively support Internet-based applications and network monitoring tools through a Linux operating system. In this sequential Phase II project, the research team will explore several research tasks designed to enrich the capabilities of the modem: Task 1. Self-Optimizing Adaptive Communication Link; Task 2. Self-Healing Underwater Mesh Networking; Underwater Plug-and-Play Self-Configuring WiFi Base Station. Task 4. Long Range (500 m< & <1 to 3 km) Adaptive Communications; Task 5. Demonstration: Video Streaming Optimized for Mobility; Task 6. Anti-Jamming and Jamming-Resistant Communications; Task 7. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Modem; Task 8. Bi-Directional Inter-Medium Communication between Aerial and Underwater Drones; Task 9. AI-Powered Adaptive, Self-Configuring Transmitter; Task 10. AI-Powered Adaptive, Self-Configuring Receiver. A broad set of software libraries will be made available to ease the definition of new networking concepts.