Unified Communication, localization and Sensing for Autonomous Underwater Missions

Context and Motivation

Underwater drones are increasingly deployed in critical applications such as infrastructure inspection, scientific exploration, and defense operations. These missions demand robust underwater communication, precise localization, and effective environmental sensing. Traditionally, these functionalities are handled by separate systems—acoustic modems for communication, sonar for sensing, and specialized localization hardware—leading to increased cost, complexity, and energy consumption. As such, existing underwater systems typically treat sensing and communication as distinct and isolated functions, lacking a unified framework that leverages communication signals for environmental awareness. This proposal aims to realize Joint Sensing and Communication (JSAC) for underwater acoustic modems—a concept that, while gaining momentum in the radio frequency domain, remains largely unexplored in underwater acoustics.

Underwater acoustic environments pose unique challenges: multipath propagation, Doppler shifts, signal attenuation, large and variable delays, and reflections influenced by salinity gradients. These effects are highly dynamic and location-dependent, complicating the design of systems that can adapt in real time. While communication techniques have evolved to mitigate these issues, there is a notable lack of insight into how these environmental factors impact sensing tasks, such as obstacle detection and proximity estimation.

This research proposes to repurpose advanced modulation schemes—including OFDM, DSSS, and ODDM—not only for data transmission but also simultanuously for sensing tasks such as localization, proximity detection, and obstacle identification. Achieving this vision will require a deeply interdisciplinary approach, combining:

• Novel acoustic modulation design tailored for joint functionality,
• Adaptive accoustic beamforming and angle-of-arrival estimation to identify the location of obstacles,
• AI-inspired adaptive signal processing to prioritize and interpret modulated signals in complex environments,
• And embedded system co-design to ensure real-time, energy-efficient operation on resource-constrained underwater platforms.

By integrating these capabilities into a single low-cost device, we can significantly enhance the scalability and efficiency of underwater drone swarms.

Target Innovations

• Design of a novel, unified acoustic hardware and software architecture replacing separate devices for communication, sonar, and localization.
• Adaptive digital modulation techniques for JSAC, enabling dynamically switch between or simultaneously support communication, sonar-based sensing, and localization, tailored to underwater environments with varying noise, multipath, and mobility conditions.
• Signal processing intelligence, capable of determining the optimal modulation based on functional requirements (localization, sensing and/or communications) and environmental conditions
• Signal processing algorithm for acoustical beamforming and signal of arrival estimation for obstacle detection
• Hardware-software co-design for energy-efficient operation in resource-constrained underwater platforms.
• System performance evaluation in realistic use cases including:
• Swarm-based inspection of underwater infrastructure (e.g., pipelines, bridges).
• Coordinated scientific exploration (e.g., marine biology, geology).
• Tactical defence applications (e.g., surveillance, mine detection).

Candidate Profile

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a strong background in:

• Signal processing and communication systems
• Embedded C programming and hardware prototyping
• PCB design (preferred but not mandatory)
• Underwater acoustics (preferred but not mandatory)

You have a Master’s degree in Computer Science, Informatics, Physics, Engineering or Electronics.

• You can plan and carry out your tasks in an independent way.
• You have strong analytical skills to interpret the obtained research results.
• You are a responsible, communicative, and flexible person.
• You are a team player.
• Your English is fluent, both speaking and writing

Environment

The PhD will be hosted in a multidisciplinary research group at both Ghent University and imec with expertise in robotics, wireless communication, and embedded systems. Collaboration with industry and defence partners is foreseen, offering opportunities for field trials and technology transfer.