Similar articles

Abstract: Due to the characteristics of the underwater acoustic channel, such as long propagation delay and low available bandwidth, the media access control (MAC) protocol designed for underwater acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs) is quite different from that for terrestrial wireless sensor networks. In this paper, we propose a MAC protocol for the UWASNs, named the funneling MAC (FMAC-U), which is a contention-based MAC protocol with a three-way handshake. The FMAC-U protocol uses an improved three-way handshake mechanism and code division multiple access (CDMA) based technology for request-to-send (RTS) signals transmitting to the sink in order that the sink can receive packets from multiple neighbors in a fixed order during each round of handshakes. The mechanism reduces the packet collisions and alleviates the funneling effect, especially alleviating the choke point of the UWASNs. Simulation results show that the proposed FMAC-U protocol achieves higher throughput, smaller packet drop ratio, lower end-to-end delay, and lower overhead of the control packet compared to the existing MAC protocols for UWASNs.

[1]Ahn, G.S., Hong, S.G., Miluzzo, E., Campbell, A.T., Cuomo, F., 2006. Funneling-MAC: a Localized, Sink-Oriented MAC for Boosting Fidelity in Sensor Networks. Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems, p.293-306.

[2]Akyildiz, I.F., Pompili, D., Melodia, T., 2005. Underwater acoustic sensor networks: research challenges. Ad Hoc Networks, 3(3):257-279.

[3]Casari, P., Tomasi, B., Zorzi, M., 2008. A Comparison Between the Tone-Lohi and Slotted FAMA MAC Protocols for Underwater Networks. IEEE OCEANS, p.1-8.

[4]Chirdchoo, N., Soh, W.S., Chua, K.C., 2008. RIPT: a receiver-initiated reservation-based protocol for underwater acoustic networks. IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun., 26(9):1744-1753.

[5]Fullmer, C.L., Garcia-Luna-Aceves, J.J., 1995. Floor acquisition multiple access for packet-radio networks. ACM SIGCOMM Comput. Commun. Rev., 25(4):262-273.

[6]Guo, X., Frater, M.R., Ryan, M.J., 2009. Design of a propagation-delay-tolerant MAC protocol for underwater acoustic sensor networks. IEEE J. Ocean. Eng., 34(2):170-180.

[7]Hsu, C.C., Lai, K.F., Chou, C.F., Lin, K.C.J., 2009. ST-MAC: Spatial-Temporal MAC Scheduling for Underwater Sensor Networks. IEEE INFOCOM, p.1827-1835.

[8]Karn, P., 1990. MACA—a New Channel Access Method for Packet Radio, ARRL/CRRL Amateur Radio. 9th Computer Networking Conf., p.134-140.

[9]Molins, M., Stojanovic, M., 2007. Slotted FAMA: a MAC Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Networks. IEEE OCEANS - Asia Pacific, p.1-7.

[10]Muqattash, A., Krunz, M., Ryan, W.E., 2003. Solving the near-far problem in CDMA-based ad hoc networks. Ad Hoc Networks, 1(4):435-453.

[11]Park, M.K., Rodoplu, V., 2007. UWAN-MAC: an energy-efficient MAC protocol for underwater acoustic wireless sensor networks. IEEE J. Ocean. Eng., 32(3):710-720.

[12]Partan, J., Kurose, J., Levine, B., 2006. A Survey of Practical Issues in Underwater Networks. Proc. 1st ACM Int. Workshop on Underwater Networks, p.17-24.

[13]Peleato, B., Stojanovic, M., 2007. Distance aware collision avoidance protocol for ad-hoc underwater acoustic sensor networks. IEEE Commun. Lett., 11(12):1025-1027.

[14]Pompili, D., Akyildiz, I.F., 2009. Overview of networking protocols for underwater wireless communications. IEEE Commun. Mag., 47(1):97-102.

[15]Pompili, D., Melodia, T., Akyildiz, I.F., 2009. A CDMA-based medium access control for underwater acoustic sensor networks. IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun., 8(4):1899-1909.

[16]Syed, A.A., Ye, W., Heidemann, J., 2008. Comparison and evaluation of the T-Lohi MAC for underwater acoustic sensor networks. IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun., 26(9):1731-1743.

[17]Tan, H.X., Seah, W.K.G., 2007. Distributed CDMA-Based MAC Protocol for Underwater Sensor Networks. 32nd IEEE Conf. on Local Computer Networks, p.26-33.

[18]Zhou, Z., Peng, Z., Cui, J.H., Jiang, Z., 2010. Handling Triple Hidden Terminal Problems for Multi-channel MAC in Long-Delay Underwater Sensor Networks. IEEE INFOCOM, p.1-5.