Energy efficient interference-aware routing and scheduling in underwater sensor networks

Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) are emerging as a key enabling technology for a wide range of applications in the marine environment. Although there are significant efforts to find viable alternatives, acoustics are still the main technology in use for underwater communications. The use of acoustic transmissions in water, however, introduces several challenges such as variable and long propagation delays, low data rate, significant fluctuations in terms of link reliability over time and long interference range. Furthermore, sensor nodes are usually powered by batteries whose replacement can introduce high cost and complexity. The objective of this paper is to design a cross-layer heuristic solution for an efficient use of the scarce resources of Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks (UASNs), such as bandwidth and energy. We propose a class of scheduling and routing policies, supporting the use of power control, to achieve reliable, low power, interference aware communications.