Investigating Bit Error Probability for OFDM Signals in an Underwater Acoustic Channel

The purpose of the study was to investigate characteristics of bit error probability during transmission of Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signals in an underwater acoustic channel by means of simulation techniques. The channel model is a superposition of OFDM signal copies received multiple times, each copy having its own delay, amplitude and timescale factor. This last parameter distinguishes underwater acoustic channels from radio channels, in which a frequency shift simulates the Doppler effect. The study considers the following factors affecting bit error probability: time delay, time scale factor and power distribution parameters, along with bits per symbol on condition that the time and frequency synchronisation with the most powerful beam is precise. The effect of residual error in time and frequency synchronisation is examined as well

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