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Haifa case study
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‎_userstories/flexible-software‐defined-modems.md‎

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title: How Flexible, Software‐Defined Modems Empower Cutting‐Edge Research
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sub_title: How Flexible, Software‐Defined Modems Empower Cutting‐Edge Research
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excerpt: Three novel underwater sensing applications from researchers at ANL enabled by Subnero's versatile software-defined smart modem.
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banner: images/haifa-case-study.jpg
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tag: Case Study
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date: 2026-02-10
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---
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<section class="page-hero md gen4x" style="background-image: url({{site.baseurl}}/{{page.banner}}); background-position:center bottom;">
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<h1>How Flexible, Software‐Defined Modems <span class="text-gradient g-blue">Empower Cutting‐Edge Research</span></h1>
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<p>Three novel underwater sensing applications from researchers at ANL enabled by Subnero's versatile software-defined smart modem.
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</p>
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</div>
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</section>
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<section class="g4x-section case-studies">
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<h2 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">Overview</h2>
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<p>In the world of underwater acoustics research, scientists often face a difficult choice when selecting hardware. Most commercial acoustic systems are "black boxes" — built for specific communication tasks with rigid, closed architectures. They limit access to raw data, offer a single receive channel, and hide critical signal processing layers behind proprietary walls.</p>
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<p>This case study explores how researchers at the Underwater Acoustic & Navigation Lab (ANL) led by <b>Dr. Roee Diamant</b> bypassed these limitations using Subnero’s software-defined smart modems to implement three distinct applications without requiring any custom hardware development.</p>
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<p>This is achieved because Subnero exposes the entire stack, from the acoustic front end to the processing interfaces to the user, rather than treating the modem as a closed communication appliance. This allows researchers to treat the modem as a high-performance edge computing platform with multiple communication interfaces.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="large-5 columns">
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<a class="pdf-download" href="{{site.baseurl}}/brochures/software-defined-modems-case-study.pdf" target="_blank" alt="How Flexible, Software‐Defined Modems Empower Cutting‐Edge Research" style="width:260px;">
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<div class="pdf-img">
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<img src="{{site.baseurl}}/images/haifa-cover.jpg" alt="How Flexible, Software‐Defined Modems Empower Cutting‐Edge Research" />
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</div>
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<p class="download-link">
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<svg viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path fill="currentColor" d="M12 15.575q-.2 0-.375-.062T11.3 15.3l-3.6-3.6q-.3-.3-.288-.7t.288-.7q.3-.3.713-.312t.712.287L11 12.15V5q0-.425.288-.712T12 4t.713.288T13 5v7.15l1.875-1.875q.3-.3.713-.288t.712.313q.275.3.288.7t-.288.7l-3.6 3.6q-.15.15-.325.213t-.375.062M6 20q-.825 0-1.412-.587T4 18v-2q0-.425.288-.712T5 15t.713.288T6 16v2h12v-2q0-.425.288-.712T19 15t.713.288T20 16v2q0 .825-.587 1.413T18 20z"/></svg>
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<span>Download PDF</span>
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</p>
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</a>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="row large p2" style="background-color:#eaf4ff; margin-top:2rem; margin-bottom:2rem;">
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<div class="columns" >
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<h2 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange" style="font-size:28px;">About the Customer</h2>
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<p style="padding-top: 6px; margin:0; font-size: 1.3rem; line-height: 1.7;">The Underwater Acoustic & Navigation Lab (ANL) is a globally recognized research group specializing in underwater acoustics, navigation, and marine sensing. Their work spans advanced sonar methods, autonomous tracking, and multi‐target detection in complex underwater environments.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="row large py2">
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<h2 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">Why Subnero?</h2>
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</div>
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<div class="large-7 columns">
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<p>Across all the examples illustrated in this case study, the common requirement is a platform that offers full control over aspects such as signal generation, access to synchronized raw data from all channels, on-device user-accessible compute, and the flexibility to adapt the system to the experiment.</p>
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">Key Benefits</h3>
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<ul class="case-study-list">
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<li>
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<b>Full Signal Chain Access </b><br />
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From waveform generation to synchronized raw data recording.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Integrated Compute </b><br />
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The power of the Jetson Orin coprocessor to run complex algorithms (like beamforming) at the edge.
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</li>
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<li>
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<b>Open Interfaces </b><br />
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The ability to develop using high-level languages like Python, speeding up the transition from hypothesis to experiment.
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</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="large-5 columns">
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<div class="testimonial-card">
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<blockquote class="testimonial" style="background-color:#FFFAEA;">
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<div class="quote">
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<svg viewBox="0 0 48 48"><path fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd" d="M18.853 9.116Q7.558 16.37 6.303 26.003C5 36 13.94 40.893 18.47 36.497s1.815-9.977-1.465-11.503s-5.286-.994-4.936-3.033s5.016-7.69 9.116-10.322a.75.75 0 0 0 .114-1.02L20.285 9.3c-.44-.572-.862-.55-1.432-.185m19.826.001q-11.295 7.254-12.55 16.887C24.825 36 33.765 40.893 38.295 36.497s1.815-9.977-1.466-11.503s-5.286-.994-4.936-3.033s5.017-7.69 9.117-10.322a.75.75 0 0 0 .113-1.02L40.11 9.3c-.44-.572-.862-.55-1.431-.185" clip-rule="evenodd"/></svg>
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</div>
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<p>The Subnero modem operates as a truly flexible, software-defined, high-performance compute platform. By exposing the signal chain and having full access to raw data, we were able to rapidly implement complex, non-traditional acoustic applications without designing custom hardware.</p>
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<div class="author">
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<div class="photo"><img src="{{site.baseurl}}/images/dr-roee-diamant.jpg" alt="Dr. Roee Diamant" /></div>
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<div class="name">
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<p>Dr. Roee Diamant</p>
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<div><span class="text-500 text-black">Associate Professor</span> <br /><i>University of Haifa, Israel</i></div>
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<div><span class="text-500 text-black">Professor</span> <br /><i>University of Zagreb, FER, Croatia</i></div>
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</div>
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</blockquote>
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</div>
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<div class="row large py2">
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<div class="columns full-header">
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<h2 class="sec-head"><span style="color:#317A7A;">Use Case 1:</span> <span class="text-gradient g-orange">Midwater Motion Estimation</span></h2>
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</div>
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<div class="large-4 columns">
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">The Challenge</h3>
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<p>Estimating the motion of a receiver in the midwater column (suspended deployment) where seabed-referenced sensors like DVLs cannot be used.</p>
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">The Implementation</h3>
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<ul class="case-study-list">
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<li>
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<b>Method </b><br />
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Researchers transmitted specially constructed reference waveforms to estimate Doppler shifts.
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</li>
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<b>Processing </b><br />
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By accessing raw baseband samples, they performed matched filtering across a Doppler grid.
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</li>
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<b>Edge Compute </b><br />
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Fine tracking and resampling corrections were executed in real-time on the modem’s integrated nVidia Jetson Orin coprocessor.
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</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="large-8 columns">
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<figure>
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<img
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src="{{site.baseurl}}/images/haifa-use-case-01.jpg" alt="Enhancing Subsea Connectivity for RTS Cube Systems" />
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<figcaption>Midwater Doppler Estimation</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="columns">
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">The Result</h3>
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<p>Successfully validated a novel Doppler-based acoustic localization system. The entire processing pipeline, built using Python, was run autonomously on a single underwater platform, demonstrating the efficiency and adaptability of the software-defined modem architecture.</p>
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</div>
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<h2 class="sec-head"><span style="color:#317A7A;">Use Case 2:</span> <span class="text-gradient g-orange">Lab-Grade Transducer Characterization</span></h2>
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</div>
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<div class="large-4 columns">
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">The Challenge</h3>
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<p>The laboratory manufactures its own hydrophones and projectors. Characterizing them typically requires expensive setups to measure parameters like voltage response and directionality.</p>
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">The Implementation</h3>
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<ul class="case-study-list">
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<b>Method </b><br />
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Subnero modems were used as custom acoustic sources to generate precise, repeatable signals.
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</li>
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<b>Waveforms </b><br />
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They transmitted short continuous-wave (CW) pulses and broadband sweeps to isolate direct-path arrivals.
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</li>
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<b>Data Capture </b><br />
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Synchronized recordings across multiple receivers were stored on the modem's 1 TB onboard storage for detailed post-processing.
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="large-8 columns">
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<figure>
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<img
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src="{{site.baseurl}}/images/haifa-use-case-02.jpg" alt="Enhancing Subsea Connectivity for RTS Cube Systems" />
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<figcaption>Lab-Grade Transducer Characterization</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="columns">
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">The Result</h3>
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<p>Successfully performed high-fidelity characterization of transducers without investing in specialized infrastructure. By leveraging the modem’s unique features, the team transformed a communication device into a laboratory-grade acoustic test bench.</p>
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</div>
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<h2 class="sec-head"><span style="color:#317A7A;">Use Case 3:</span> <span class="text-gradient g-orange">Sonar for 3D Fish Tracking</span></h2>
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</div>
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">The Challenge</h3>
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<p>Tracking faint, fast-moving biological targets using a compact, low-power acoustic array that inherently suffers from severe spatial ambiguities and overwhelming environmental clutter.</p>
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">The Implementation</h3>
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<ul class="case-study-list">
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<b>Method </b><br />
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A complete "track-before-detect" pipeline using broadband linear frequency-modulated chirps.
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<b>Processing </b><br />
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The team implemented delay-and-sum beamforming across a four-element array, followed by CFAR detection and Kalman filtering.
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</li>
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<b>Validation </b><br />
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Sea trials in the Adriatic Sea confirmed the system's ability to track biological targets.
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</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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<div class="large-8 columns">
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<figure>
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<img
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src="{{site.baseurl}}/images/haifa-use-case-03a.jpg" alt="Active Sonar for 3D Fish Tracking" />
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<figcaption>Active Sonar for 3D Fish Tracking</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<figure>
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<img
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src="{{site.baseurl}}/images/haifa-use-case-03b.jpg" alt="Passive Acoustic Monitoring & Tracking of Marine Mammals and Trawlers" />
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<figcaption>Passive Acoustic Monitoring & Tracking of Marine Mammals and Trawlers</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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<div class="columns">
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<h3 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange">The Result</h3>
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<p>Successfully validated a novel Doppler-based acoustic localization system. The entire processing pipeline, built using Python, was run autonomously on a single underwater platform, demonstrating the efficiency and adaptability of the software-defined modem architecture.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="columns">
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<div class="reference">
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<h5>Reference</h5>
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<p><a class="reference-link" href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/11/1925" target="_blank">Abu, A.; Mišković, N.; Cukrov, N.; Diamant, R. Multiple Mobile Target Detection and Tracking in Small Active Sonar Array. Remote Sens. 2025, 17, 1925. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17111925</a></p>
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<h2 class="sec-head text-gradient g-orange" style="font-size:28px;">The Subnero <br />Software-Defined Platform</h2>
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<p>ANL's success is rooted in the modem's open architecture, which provides full control over the acoustic signal chain, from waveform generation to synchronized raw data recording. This, combined with the integrated high-performance edge compute enables rapid development and real-time execution of complex algorithms, making the modem a flexible research instrument.</p>
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<figure>
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<img
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src="{{site.baseurl}}/images/haifa-subnero-modems.jpg" alt="Test procedure" />
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<figcaption>Subnero modems</figcaption>
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</figure>
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</div>
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</section>

‎brochures/software-defined-modems-case-study.pdf‎

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‎images/dr-roee-diamant.jpg‎

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