Design of a Wireless Data Transmission Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Networks

Abstract

In the present world underwater acoustic sensor network (UWSN) is a new research area and currently quite challenging in terms of limited bandwidth, low data rates and multipath propagation & high equipment costs. Most of the research works are stalled by some fundamental factors. For example, high cost of underwater networking experiments as well as lack of portable devices to conduct experiments. In this paper, a new underwater data transmission protocol is proposed to promote experimental research works and to form an underwater acoustic sensor network in which data is transmitted by DTMF tones. The total system consists of a portable transmitter and a receiver. On the transmission module user input will be encoded into DTMF tones, and these tones are generated automatically using a microcontroller. The tone signal is modulated and then transmitted via an acoustic transmitter in form of acoustic waves. On the receiver module these acoustic waves are received via low cost hydrophones which have the ability to capture sound signal in underwater condition. The received signal is decoded into digital binary digits using a DTMF decoder. The decoded digits are combined and the corresponding ASCII character is shown. This portable device can be operated using battery as low power is required to transmit data. The system requires very low power and hence ensures longer battery life.