QUO VADIS: QoS-aware underwater optimization framework for inter-vehicle communication using acoustic directional transducers

Underwater acoustic communications consume a significant amount of energy due to the high transmission power (10–50 W) and long data packet transmission times (0.1–1 s). Mobile Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) can conserve energy by waiting for the ‘best’ network topology configuration, e.g., a favorable alignment, before starting to communicate. Due to the frequency-selective underwater acoustic ambient noise and high medium power absorption — which increases exponentially with distance — a shorter distance between AUVs translates into a lower transmission loss and a higher available bandwidth. By leveraging the predictability of AUV trajectories, a novel solution is proposed that optimizes communications by delaying packet transmissions in order to wait for a favorable network topology (thus trading end-to-end delay for energy and/or throughput). In addition, the solution proposed — which is implemented and compared with other solutions using an emulator that integrates underwater acoustic WHOI Micro-Modems — exploits the frequency-dependent radiation pattern of underwater acoustic transducers to reduce communication energy consumption by adjusting the transducer directivity on-the-fly.

[1]  Wei Dong,et al.  LDB: Localization with Directional Beacons for Sparse 3D Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks , 2010, J. Networks.

[2]  Milica Stojanovic,et al.  Focused beam routing protocol for underwater acoustic networks , 2008, Underwater Networks.

[3]  Paolo Bellavista,et al.  A Mobile Delay-Tolerant Approach to Long-Term Energy-Efficient Underwater Sensor Networking , 2007, 2007 IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference.

[4]  James F. Bartram,et al.  Underwater Acoustic System Analysis by William S. Burdic , 1984 .

[5]  Jim Kurose,et al.  A survey of practical issues in underwater networks , 2007 .

[6]  Leonard Kleinrock,et al.  Optimal Transmission Ranges for Randomly Distributed Packet Radio Terminals , 1984, IEEE Trans. Commun..

[7]  Dario Pompili,et al.  Underwater acoustic sensor networks: research challenges , 2005, Ad Hoc Networks.

[8]  Zheng Guo,et al.  Prediction Assisted Single-Copy Routing in Underwater Delay Tolerant Networks , 2010, 2010 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference GLOBECOM 2010.

[9]  Vinton G. Cerf,et al.  Delay-tolerant networking: an approach to interplanetary Internet , 2003, IEEE Commun. Mag..

[10]  Brian Gallagher,et al.  MaxProp: Routing for Vehicle-Based Disruption-Tolerant Networks , 2006, Proceedings IEEE INFOCOM 2006. 25TH IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications.

[11]  S. Singh,et al.  The WHOI micro-modem: an acoustic communications and navigation system for multiple platforms , 2005, Proceedings of OCEANS 2005 MTS/IEEE.

[12]  Vijay Gupta,et al.  Distributed estimation and control in networked systems , 2007 .

[13]  Sheldon M. Ross,et al.  Introduction to probability models , 1975 .

[14]  Arun Venkataramani,et al.  DTN routing as a resource allocation problem , 2007, SIGCOMM 2007.

[15]  Pierre Baldi,et al.  Battery Lifetime Estimation and Optimization for Underwater Sensor Networks , 2004 .

[16]  Anant Sahai,et al.  Anytime information theory , 2001 .

[17]  C.Y.M. Chan,et al.  An Integrated Energy Efficient Data Retrieval Protocol for Underwater Delay Tolerant Networks , 2007, OCEANS 2007 - Europe.

[18]  Edwin Olson,et al.  Robust Range-Only Beacon Localization , 2006 .

[19]  Zheng Guo,et al.  Adaptive Routing in Underwater Delay/Disruption Tolerant Sensor Networks , 2008, 2008 Fifth Annual Conference on Wireless on Demand Network Systems and Services.

[20]  Kevin R. Fall,et al.  A delay-tolerant network architecture for challenged internets , 2003, SIGCOMM '03.

[21]  P.-P. Beaujean,et al.  Location-Aware Routing Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Networks , 2006, OCEANS 2006.

[22]  R. Houde,et al.  Implementation of a ROV navigation system using acoustic/Doppler sensors and Kalman filtering , 2003, Oceans 2003. Celebrating the Past ... Teaming Toward the Future (IEEE Cat. No.03CH37492).

[23]  Yang Xiao,et al.  Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks , 2009 .

[24]  Sheldon M. Ross,et al.  Introduction to Probability Models (4th ed.). , 1990 .

[25]  Demosthenis Teneketzis,et al.  On the Structure of Optimal Real-Time Encoders and Decoders in Noisy Communication , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory.

[26]  Gerry Leversha,et al.  Statistical inference (2nd edn), by Paul H. Garthwaite, Ian T. Jolliffe and Byron Jones. Pp.328. £40 (hbk). 2002. ISBN 0 19 857226 3 (Oxford University Press). , 2003, The Mathematical Gazette.

[27]  Gregory G. Finn,et al.  Routing and Addressing Problems in Large Metropolitan-Scale Internetworks. ISI Research Report. , 1987 .

[28]  Jorge Urrutia,et al.  Compass routing on geometric networks , 1999, CCCG.

[29]  John J. Leonard,et al.  Cooperative Localization for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles , 2009, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[30]  Baozhi Chen,et al.  Trajectory-Aware Communication Solution for Underwater Gliders Using WHOI Micro-Modems , 2010, 2010 7th Annual IEEE Communications Society Conference on Sensor, Mesh and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks (SECON).

[31]  G. Casella,et al.  Statistical Inference , 2003, Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining.

[32]  John J. Leonard,et al.  Cooperative AUV Navigation using a Single Maneuvering Surface Craft , 2010, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[33]  Milica Stojanovic,et al.  On the relationship between capacity and distance in an underwater acoustic communication channel , 2007, MOCO.

[34]  Zhensheng Zhang,et al.  Routing in intermittently connected mobile ad hoc networks and delay tolerant networks: overview and challenges , 2006, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials.

[35]  Dario Pompili,et al.  On the interdependence of distributed topology control and geographical routing in ad hoc and sensor networks , 2005, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[36]  Ahmed Helmy,et al.  The effect of mobility-induced location errors on geographic routing in mobile ad hoc sensor networks: analysis and improvement using mobility prediction , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing.

[37]  X. Wang,et al.  Self-Adaptive On Demand Geographic Routing Protocols for Mobile Ad-hoc Networks , 2007, IEEE INFOCOM 2007 - 26th IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications.

[38]  Dario Pompili,et al.  A cross-layer communication solution for multimedia applications in underwater acoustic sensor networks , 2008, 2008 5th IEEE International Conference on Mobile Ad Hoc and Sensor Systems.

[39]  Stefan B. Williams,et al.  Simultaneous localisation and mapping on the Great Barrier Reef , 2004, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004.

[40]  Peng Xie,et al.  VBF: Vector-Based Forwarding Protocol for Underwater Sensor Networks , 2006, Networking.