A Software-defined Underwater Acoustic Networking Platform for Underwater Vehicles

Unal, Deniz; Falleni, Sara; Demirors, Emrecan; Enhoş, Kerem; Basagni, Stefano; Melodia, Tommaso

doi:10.1109/icc45855.2022.9839033

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Multiple different FEC codes are commonly utilized, such as as Reed Solomon codes. FEC techniques are explored an evaluated in an underwater acoustic setting using a ZP-OFDM physical layer in [2].…”

Section: Data Link Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The chosen physical layer for this system is the aforementioned ZP-OFDM due to its high-data rate and channel usage. The importance of picking a physical layer capable of such high data rates is so that the mesh network system could be scaled to much higher data rates in future works [69]. The ZP-OFDM physical layer is defined by the following parameters: • Bandwidth -125 kHz -Defines the utilized bandwidth for the ZP-OFDM signal.…”

Section: Physical Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Software-defined acoustic underwater mesh networks

Turco

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While terrestrial IoTs have been extensively explored, both academically and commercially, IoUTs have had significantly fewer developments. The underwater channel presents unique challenges which cause commonly utilized communication methodologies in the RF domain to become nonviable. This thesis presents an underwater mesh network designed to address the challenges faced in the network, data link, and physical layers of the underwater acoustic domain. This underwater mesh network implements a proactive routing protocol for maintaining routing topology, allowing for Dijkstra's algorithm to be utilized as an efficient method of determining the next hop for a data packet. Endpoints across an on-board Ethernet socket will be capable of joining the mesh network, allowing for cross-medium data forwarding. A CRC-32 was implemented as the primary methodology for error detection. Two MAC schemes were implemented for this underwater mesh network: a Pure ALOHA scheme and a repetitive burst retransmission scheme. The routing table discovery process and the implemented MAC schemes were evaluated through testing with hardware in a real-world oceanic environment (located in the Boston harbor). Utilizing a ZP-OFDM communication scheme, the underwater mesh network's discovery process was able to establish topological consensus on the state of the routing table quickly and accurately in this real-world setting. The repetitive retransmission scheme greatly outperformed the Pure ALOHA scheme due to the greater number of collisions (from acknowledgement packets in the shared channel) in the Pure ALOHA scheme. Through real-world testing, the protocols and systems implemented within this underwater mesh networks were shown to be highly successful at establishing and maintaining a network at varying levels of data traffic.

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Section: Data Link Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Physical Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

Software-defined acoustic underwater mesh networks

Turco

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“…In a standalone deployment, the modem can be: (i) moored to the bottom, (ii) attached to a smart buoy for long-range access or (iii) directly connected to a user through the Ethernet cable. The light mechanical design of the modem allows it to be easily integrated into underwater drones [79].…”

Section: Mechanical Implementationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For data transmission, each node is equipped with a half-duplex omni-directional acoustic modem that uses an OFDM physical layer. In particular, we focus on scenarios comprising lastgeneration software-defined acoustic modems like the SeaNET modem, which achieve higher data rates within short/medium distances [93,111] and that, given the small form factor and light weight, offers convenient deployment [105]. A desirable characteristic of these modems (when using OFDM) is being able to receive multiple packets transmitted on different subcarriers at the same time.…”

Section: Network Scenariomentioning

confidence: 99%

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OFDM-based medium access control protocols for the next generation of underwater wireless networks

Falleni

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Despite covering 71% of Earth's surface, 80% of the oceans remain unexplored and unmapped. Even if extremely important, ocean exploration is just one of many applications that could benefit from networks of connected underwater devices capable of sensing the environment and communicating with each other wirelessly. Other applications that could benefit from underwater wireless networks include disaster prevention, oil and gas pipeline monitoring, aquaculture, habitat restoration, and national security.Networks of underwater wireless devices typically use acoustic waves for communicating as that is the sole technology capable of propagating for long distances in water. However, these networks encounter several obstacles, such as slow propagation speed, the Doppler effect, reflections, and constantly changing channel characteristics.The basic building block of underwater acoustic wireless networks is the underwater acoustic wireless modem. Over time, attempts have been made to create faster and more reliable underwater acoustic modems, such as those manufactured by Teledyne Benthos and Evologics. Nevertheless, the acoustic modems currently available in the market suffer from two primary issues: slow data rates and an inflexible software and hardware architecture which impedes new protocol and standard development.Intending to advance the field of underwater wireless networks, i.e., realizing networks that are faster than the state of the art and that can adapt to the ever-changing conditions of the marine environment, this work investigates the field of Medium Access Control protocols in underwater networks. Specifically, it focuses on MAC protocols that rely on Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) physical layers, the physical layer technique that is also used in Wi-Fi and LTE. To investigate OFDM-based MAC layers in the real world and at scale, we follow two parallel xii paths: i) for the real-world MAC layer testing we first design, develop, and test the SEANet modem, a software-defined acoustic platform. We then design, implement, and test OFDM-based MAC protocols using a small network of SEANet modems. ii) To test the efficacy of OFDM-based MAC layer protocols in large networks we design implement and test several OFDM-based MAC Protocols on multi-hop networks using the DESERT simulator. The MAC protocols tested on the DESERT simulator leverage the OFDM technology at the physical layer as well as reinforcement learning.Experiments carried out in the simulated environment and the real network of SEANet modems confirm that OFDM-based MAC Protocols achieve higher data rates with respect to the state of the art and allow the network to be smarter and more reliable, especially when selective interference is present. The addition of reinforcement learning to the OFDM-based MAC protocols produces networks that are adaptable with minimal human contribution.xiii

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