Novel Polarization Construction Method and Synchronization Algorithm for Underwater Acoustic Channel Under T-Distribution Noise Environment

Underwater acoustic channel (UWAC) is characterized by significant multipath effects, strong time-varying properties and complex noise environments, which make achieving high-rate and reliable underwater communication a formidable task. To address the above adverse challenges, this study first presents a novel, robust and efficient polar code construction (NREPCC) method using the base-adversarial polarization weight (BPW) algorithm tailored for typical ocean channel models, including invariable sound velocity gradient (ISVG) channels, negative sound velocity gradient (NSVG) channels, and positive sound velocity gradient (PSVG) channels. Subsequently, a robust and reliable polar-coded UWAC system model based on the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technique is designed using the t-distribution noise model in conjunction with real sea noise data fitting. Then, an enhanced time synchronization and packet detection algorithm based on t-distribution is proposed for the performance optimization of the polar-coded UWAC OFDM system. Finally, extensive numerical simulation results confirm the excellent performance of the proposed NREPCC method and polar-coded UWAC OFDM system under a variety of channel conditions. Specifically, the NREPCC method outperforms low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes by approximately 0.5~1 dB in PSVG and ISVG channels while maintaining lower encoding and decoding complexity. Moreover, the robustness of the NREPCC method under t-distribution noise with varying degrees of freedom is rigorously validated, which renders vital technical support for the design of high-precision and high-robustness UWAC systems.