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Compatibility in acoustic telemetry
Reubens, J.; Aarestrup, K.; Meyer, C.; Moore, A.; Økland, F.; Afonso, P. (2021). Compatibility in acoustic telemetry. Animal Biotelemetry 9(1): 33. https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40317-021-00253-z
In: Animal Biotelemetry. BioMed Central/Springer Nature: London. e-ISSN 2050-3385
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Open access 367492 [ download pdf ]

Authors  Top 
  • Reubens, J.
  • Aarestrup, K.
  • Meyer, C.
  • Moore, A.
  • Økland, F.
  • Afonso, P.

Abstract
    Acoustic telemetry is widely used to investigate aquatic animal movement. Pulse position modulation (PPM) is an acoustic telemetry method that allows multiple unique identification codes to be transmitted at a single acoustic frequency, typically in the 69 kHz range. However, because the potential number of unique identification codes (i.e. tags) is ultimately limited by the number of pulses in the PPM signal, this poses a practical limitation. In addition, different manufacturers have developed different approaches to encoding the transmitted data, hampering compatibility across brands. A lack of broad compatibility across telemetry systems restricts users to a single manufacturer and operating system, reduces market competition and limits innovation. As the aquatic animal tracking research community organizes towards networks of devices and data, incompatibility becomes more problematic and jeopardizes the unique scientific benefits offered by the networking approach. Here, we make a plea for collaboration among the manufacturers globally and propose a set of open protocols to ensure equipment interoperability as a medium-term solution.

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