Convex optimization–based multi-user detection in underwater acoustic sensor networks

Multi-carrier code-division multiple access is an important technical means for high-performance underwater acoustic sensor networks. Nevertheless, severe multiple access interference is a huge challenge. As the core technology, multi-user detection is used to eliminate multiple access interference. The traditional optimal detection algorithms (e.g. maximum likelihood) have very high computational complexity, and the performances of suboptimal detection methods (i.e. zero forcing, minimum mean square error, etc.) are poor. Therefore, taking into account the characteristics of underwater acoustic sensor networks, it is of great significance to design multi-user detection algorithms for achieving a tradeoff between the detection performance and the computational complexity in multi-carrier code-division multiple access systems. In this article, we design a transmitter model of underwater multi-carrier code-division multiple access system and then implement a multi-user detection algorithm based on convex optimization, which is named convex optimization–based algorithm. Next, we conduct the detection performance and computational complexity comparisons of maximum likelihood, zero forcing, minimum mean square error, and convex optimization–based algorithm. The results show that the performance of convex optimization–based algorithm is close to that of maximum likelihood, and the complexity is close to that of zero forcing. Therefore, a tradeoff between the computational complexity and the detection performance is realized in convex optimization–based algorithm. It means that convex optimization–based algorithm is suitable for the multi-user detection in multi-carrier code-division multiple access systems of underwater acoustic sensor networks.