Award Abstract # 1643399
I-Corps: Reliable and Low-Cost Transceiver for Underwater Wireless Communications and Networks

NSF Org: TI
Translational Impacts
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI SYSTEM
Initial Amendment Date: July 21, 2016
Latest Amendment Date: July 21, 2016
Award Number: 1643399
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Steven Konsek
TI
 Translational Impacts
TIP
 Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships
Start Date: August 1, 2016
End Date: January 31, 2018 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $50,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $50,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2016 = $50,000.00
History of Investigator:
  • Yahong Zheng (Principal Investigator)
    yrz218@lehigh.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Missouri University of Science and Technology
300 W. 12TH STREET
ROLLA
MO  US  65409-1330
(573)341-4134
Sponsor Congressional District: 08
Primary Place of Performance: Missouri University of Science and Technology
301 W. 16th St
Rolla
MO  US  65409-6524
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
08
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): Y6MGH342N169
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): I-Corps
Primary Program Source: 01001617DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 9150
Program Element Code(s): 802300
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.084

ABSTRACT

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is in underwater wireless communications and wireless sensor networks. The innovative underwater wireless communication technology is highly desirable for enabling real-time wireless sensing and data communication. The reduced cost and improved reliability will enable wide-spread applications of underwater wireless communication system and will greatly enhance the capability of ocean big data acquisition and underwater infrastructure monitoring. The commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the successful technology transfer to field products, which in turn can make huge impact on ocean instrumentation, offshore environmental observation, infrastructure (bridge, oil pipe, river bank, levee) monitoring, subsea oil drilling, fishing industry, diver communications, underwater mine operation, and coastal surveillance with torpedoes, underwater robots, and unmanned underwater vehicles.

This I-Corps project aims at developing a business plan for transferring the innovative underwater wireless communication technology into field products. The hostile ocean/river/lake environment imposes tremendous challenges for underwater wireless communications. Currently, the available acoustic transceivers are mainly second-generation technologies developed in 1990s, which suffer from either high cost or low robustness against changing environment. The innovative Turbo equalization algorithms for single-carrier modulation acoustic communications exhibit high reliability, high performance, and low hardware cost, and have been recognized as the third generation technology in underwater wireless communications. This I-Corps project will focus on three major tasks: 1) identify the value proposition, 2) analyze the revenue streams by discovering customer segments, revenue channels, and customer relationships, and 3) analyzing cost structure by studying key activities, key resources, and key partners. The goal of this project is to help transferring this underwater wireless technology into field products that exhibit low cost and high reliability.

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

This I-Corps team project aims at developing a business plan for transferring the innovative underwater wireless communication technology into field products. The hostile ocean/river/lake environment imposes tremendous challenges for underwater wireless communications. Currently, the available acoustic transceivers are mainly second-generation technologies developed in 1990s, which suffer from either low data rate or low robustness against changing environment. The innovative Turbo equalization algorithms developed in a previous NSF project exhibit high reliability, high performance, and high data rate. Using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) single-carrier modulation (SCM), the Turbo receiver algorithms have been recognized as the third generation technology in underwater wireless communications.  The overall goal of this project is to help transferring this underwater wireless technology into field products that exhibit high data rate and high reliability.

 

The I-Corps team successfully completed the 8-week training of the I-Corps workshop during July 5-Aug. 19, 2016. The team continued the customer discovery effort through the project duration till the end of 2017.  A total of more than 400 potential customers have been interviewed and the PI and students also presented at more than ten ocean technology workshops and conferences. The project identified four customer segments: a) professional and recreational diving, b) subsea oil and gas industry, c) underwater environmental monitoring and scientific research; and d) military and costal surveillance. Among the four segments, the team first focused the interviews on the first segment and pivoted to the second segment. The project established the value proposition for the subsea oil and gas industry, identified major pain point of the segment, researched the market size, and identified several key partners and key resources. The project also established the commercialization path beyond the I-Corps project. In addition, the project has led to the application of two US patents. 

 

Broader impacts of the project include the entrepreneurial mindset training of the project team which includes two graduate researchers and two undergraduate students besides the PI and mentor. The PI also won a fellowship for developing entrepreneurial mindset based teaching workshop from KEEN ICE program in January 2018. The knowledge gained through the I-CORPS team project will be utilized in the course development.  The interaction of the project team and the large number of potential customers not only allows the research team to realize the market needs, but also disseminates the technology to the public.    


Last Modified: 02/22/2018
Modified by: Yahong R Zheng

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