Underwater communications research and development at CMRE

A key to developing autonomous maritime systems for NATO is communication among data gathering platforms below and above the water. However, unlike the mature technologies that are used for terrestrial networks, underwater communications is still in an early stage. This paper provides an overview of CMRE's activities in the field of underwater communications where emphasis has been put in addressing the specific issues that may help accelerating the development of the state-of-the art. For its importance for NATO, interoperability is a key focus area for CMRE. Additionally, experimentation at sea and real-world data collection also play a crucial role as they represent the only viable means for science and technology validation.