Joint Design of Ranging and Media Access Control in Underwater Acoustic Networks

Abstract:

Due to the unique characteristics of underwater acoustic channels, most wireless protocols need necessary modifications before being applied to underwater acoustic networks. In order to match underwater environment better and achieve higher performance, underwater acoustic networks are calling for cross-layer design with integrated functions implementing. This paper discusses about how to integrate the ranging technique and media access control (MAC) together. Ranging plays a key role in forming a network topology. However, the independent ranging process in an underwater acoustic network requires frequently media access and affects the performance of MAC protocols. In this paper, a joint design of ranging and MAC was proposed to solve the problem. MAC signals are reused to estimate the range. By applying ranging solutions for Aloha and MACAW, good range estimation was obtained in underwater networks. An undersea experiment was carried out to verify this solution. The experimental results show that the joint design of ranging and MAC is capable to work well in underwater acoustic networks.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 546-547)
• Pages: 1261-1269
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.546-547.1261
• Online since: July 2012
• Authors: Zhe Guang Zou, Xiao Mei Xu, Yi Tao, Zhao Tong Zhu
• Keywords: Cross-Layer Design, Network Protocols, Underwater Acoustic Communication Networks, Underwater Ranging

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