Communication for Underwater Sensor Networks: A Comprehensive Summary

Abstract

Sensing and communication technology has been used successfully in various event monitoring applications over the last two decades, especially in places where long-term manual monitoring is infeasible. However, the major applicability of this technology was mostly limited to terrestrial environments. On the other hand, underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) opens a new space for the remote monitoring of underwater species and faunas, along with communicating with underwater vehicles, submarines, and so on. However, as opposed to terrestrial radio communication, underwater environment brings new challenges for reliable communication due to the high conductivity of the aqueous medium which leads to major signal absorption. In this paper, we provide a detailed technical overview of different underwater communication technologies, namely acoustic, magnetic, and visual light, along with their potentials and challenges in submarine environments. Detailed comparison among these technologies have also been laid out along with their pros and cons using real experimental results.