Ad hoc positioning for sensors in underwater acoustic networks

This short paper presents the development of a simulation tool to investigate the performance of ad hoc positioning systems under time-varying underwater acoustic channels. Most important physical parameters such as depth, temperature and salinity as well as transmission parameters such as frequency and delay are considered and implemented in different underwater acoustic propagation models for an accurate characterization of the time varying channel. Then the simulation tool is able to evaluate the performance of various ad hoc positioning systems under different underwater environments. This simulation tool is called the UWPOS simulator which is particularly useful for assessment during planning and before deployment of general underwater acoustic sensor networks