An Underwater Acoustic Network Positioning Algorithm Combined with its Protocol

摘要

Global positioning system (GPS) cannot be used in underwater acoustic sensor network (UASN), because radio waves suffer severe absorption in water. And, water flow always washes the node away during its deployment. The node needs to be positioned after deployment. An underwater network node positioning algorithm combined with the network protocol is proposed in this paper. Before each node is deployed into water, it is initiated with a GPS value. Then, the nodes are deployed according to certain rules, which are each node must have two other nodes in its communication range and the two other nodes can also communication with each other. Combined with our network self-organization protocol, the distances between two nodes are ranged by time of arrival algorithm. The initial GPS values are correcting according to the distances. Simulations show that the offset can be reduced to 50% or less averagely if the directions of all the offset are random, and the energy consumption is lower than the traditional method. This algorithm makes an attempt in underwater network node positioning combined with protocol, simplifies the positioning process and saves the energy. It may promote underwater network development and accelerate ocean exploitation and utilization.