Adaptive M-ary spread spectrum based dual-function detection and communication system.

• An underwater dual-function transmit waveform is proposed based on continuous active sonar (CAS) system, which can perform the CAS detection and communication simultaneously with remarkable reliability. • The adaptive M-ary spread spectrum modulation method is used to enable sub-pulses of CAS system to carry information, and the modulation method can decrease the number of orthogonal waveforms required by the underwater integrated system. • The generalized sinusoidal frequency-modulated (GSFM) waveforms are used as sub-pulses of the integrated system, and the parameters and frequency reflections (FRs) of GSFM waveforms are optimized based on the GA to improve the communication and detection performance of the integrated system. • Successful communication experiments are also performed to further verify the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed integrated system in practical applications. In this paper, we propose a joint detection-communication technique for continuous active sonar (CAS) systems. Particularly, we embed information in the waveforms used for sonar detection via the adaptive M-ary Spread Spectrum modulation, enabling simultaneous communication-detection. To improve the overall performance of the integrated system, we apply the Generalized Sinusoidal Frequency Modulated waveforms and optimize it through the Genetic Algorithm. The numerical simulation and field experimental results show that the proposed technique can perform the CAS detection and communication simultaneously with remarkable reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]