Simulation Study of Multi-Path Characteristics of Acoustic Propagation in Shallow Water Wireless Channel

Multi-path interference due to boundary reflection in shallow water acoustic communication poses the major obstacle to reliable, high-speed underwater communication system. Based on the typical sound speed profiles of Taiwan Strait, this paper adopt fast-field program to simulate the delay time and amplitude fluctuation of multi-path under different channel conditions. Simulation results reveal the relationships between delay, amplitude and typical channel parameters, such as sound- speed gradient, distance, channel depth, which provides a valuable guide for the practical design of shallow-water wireless acoustic communication system.