Abstract

The study presents the details of recent developments and innovations in the field of Underwater Acoustic Communication (UWAC) and networking that may be act as a requisite platform for the individuals who want to involve in the research of this emerging field. Ocean exploration/monitoring applications make design of robust UWAC and networking systems more demanding for recent researchers. The main objective of these studies is to establish a standard, low complex and real-time acoustic network having the capabilities to handle the extremely complex and continuously time varying nature of sea. During last decade, major contribution in this field has been carried out; many efficient methodologies and algorithms have also been proposed. In terms of physical layer, coherent MIMO-OFDM based communication is considered as feasible solution for the band limited/frequency selective underwater channel with more spectral efficiency, high data rates and reliable links. Considering the implications of complicated aquatic channel characteristics (extremely limited bandwidth, noise, Doppler spread, multipath, complex propagation delay), many researchers are also focusing for the developments of effective MAC protocols in terms of capacity and reduced consumption of power. Routing strategies that establish efficient data delivery paths in underwater environment is another demanding requirement. Designing of Transport layer protocol for fluctuated aquatic environment is an open research area.

Keywords:

Channel estimation, MAC protocols, Matching Pursuit (MP), multipath spread, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), non-uniform Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), routing strategies, Underwater Acoustic Communication (UWAC), Underwater Acoustic Network (UAN),

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

Open Access Policy

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Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.