Easytrak Nexus is an advanced Ultra Short Baseline (USBL) positioning and tracking system which incorporates Spread Spectrum Technology to provide a secure acoustic link. It determines the position of dynamic subsea targets through the transmission and reception of acoustic signals between the submerged transceiver and the target beacon. By incorporating Spread Spectrum Technology, the wide bandwidth transmissions reduce its susceptibility to interference and enable the calculation of more accurate positioning information. Spread Spectrum Technology is also better at rejecting unwanted reflected signals which improves operations in challenging locations such as ports or harbours.

At the heart of the system is the Nexus Command Console, a powerful 2U rack mounted processor with direct connection to the system’s Transceiver. Though the Transceiver has integral pitch, roll and heading sensors, serial ports on the Console allow the additional interface with external reference units for higher accuracy. Further ports connect to the display monitor, keyboard and mouse and to the ship’s Ethernet.

Like other Easytrak systems Nexus works with a variety of underwater targets and beacon types including  Pingers, Responders, Release and Positioning Transponders, both in traditional ‘tone-burst’ and Spread Spectrum modes. These Spread Spectrum (SS) beacons include an enhanced 1000 Series with depth telemetry option and a bi-directional Spread Spectrum version for improved range stability.

The rack-mounted Nexus has a built in PC running embedded Windows XP with a solid state HD. The positioning information is displayed on a separate monitor where activity of up to ten subsea targets within a specified operating area can be viewed. These targets can be beacons operating on Easytrak traditional tone-burst channels, Easytrak SS channels or channels operating in the same frequency range from other sources.


Technical Specification