Sensor Networks for Maritime Deployment: Modeling and Simulation

Simulation is widely used in Wireless Sensor Networks to assess the feasibility and performance of design decisions before the deployment, assisting the development of optimal solutions or trade-offs. In this paper, we address the particular case of a sensor network deployed at sea, where hundreds or thousands of sensing nodes drift with the stream and organise into a network capable of transmitting results to a remote station. A new simulator was built to address the particularities of the wireless models required to correctly understand the application scenario. The models provide realistic channel simulation, along with additive interference from other sources, where all transmissions are considered independently. The receiver decides which transmission was first and what is the level of noise from the environment and contending nodes. Network algorithms were implemented and compared using different network sizes and parameters. Results show that algorithms are sensitive to deployment conditions and respond differently to each set of environmental parameters.