Fountain code based Adaptive multi-hop Reliable data transfer for underwater acoustic networks

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate multi-hop reliable data transfer for underwater acoustic networks. Due to the unique features of underwater acoustic channels (such as long propagation delays and high channel error rates), conventional reliable data transfer approaches (such as simple transmission-upon-failure and coding) cannot be directly applied underwater. In addition, the strong property of half-duplex transmission of current acoustic modems requires joint optimization for a multi-hop network scenario in order to reduce end-to-end delay. Strongly motivated, we propose a new protocol, called FOuntain Code based Adaptive multi-hop Reliable data transfer (FOCAR). FOCAR is essentially a hybrid ARQ scheme which integrates coding with hop-by-hop retransmission-upon-failure. Fountain codes are used here due to the strong error correction capability and rateless property,which greatly simplifies the selective repeat procedure for reducing end-to-end delay and improving energy efficiency. Further, FOCAR considers the half duplex nature of underwater acoustic modems, adapting the block size of each hop to optimize the endto-end delay for the multi-hop network scenario. Extensive simulation results show that FOCAR can achieve high reliability with low end-to-end delay and high energy efficiency.

A Hybrid ARQ scheme combining erasure codes and selective retransmissions for reliable data transfer in underwater acoustic sensor networks

“…The distance of each hop is uniformly distributed between 2 and 5 km. The transition delay between the sending and receiving status of the acoustic modem is selected to be 1.5 s, modem synchronization delay is 0.5 s and forwarding delay is 1 s [22,23]. The initial energy of each node is assumed to be 70 J [56].…”

“…In [20], the authors employ fountain code to enhance the reliability and efficiency of broadcasting in UASNs, while in [21], the authors use fountain codes for reliable data transport and storage. In [22], the authors propose fountain code-based adaptive multi-hop reliable data transfer (FOCAR), a hybrid ARQ scheme which integrates Fountain codes with hop-by-hop retransmission upon failure, for reliable data transfer in UASN. In [23], the authors propose a practical coding multi-hop reliable data transfer (PCMRDT) protocol for UASN that combines random linear coding and hop by hop selective repeat retransmission scheme to achieve high reliability.…”

“…To reduce the delay and to improve the reliability, hybrid ARQ schemes that exploit the advantages of both FEC and ARQ have been widely explored for UASNs [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. In [20], the authors employ fountain code to enhance the reliability and efficiency of broadcasting in UASNs, while in [21], the authors use fountain codes for reliable data transport and storage.…”

File transfer in Vehicular Delay Tolerant Networks using fountain coding

“…CFP [31] integrated optimal probabilistic forwarding scheme with fountain codes to reach better delivery ratio, avoiding the waste of the resources. FOCAR was proposed to obtain high reliability and low end-to-end delay [32]. In addition, it was shown that fountain coding could improve the data delivery in VANETs compared to other traditional protocols [4].…”

Exploring random access and handshaking techniques in underwater wireless acoustic networks

“…In [13], the authors addressed the energy issues in UWSN and proposed methods to estimate the battery lifetime and power cost of shallow water networks. Reliable data transfer which is aimed to provide reliable service to the upper-layer applications has also been investigated in [14][15][16].…”