Study of RFEC-Based Transport Protocol in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

Different from terrestrial sensor networks, underwater sensor networks use acoustic channels for communication and most sensor nodes are mobile due to water current. These distinctions feature underwater sensor networks with highly dynamic topology, high bit error rate, large propagation delay, and low available bandwidth. Traditional ARQ series are not suitable due to their frequent feedbacks, which is undesirable in underwater environment. On the other hand, pure FEC can't apply into underwater sensor networks, not only because of its complexity, but also because it needs some feedbacks. This paper studied transport protocol in underwater sensor networks, implemented a reliable lightweight RFEC-based encoding and decoding algorithm. Then combine the algorithm with ARQ to a transport protocol. In this way, take advantages of FEC to deal with high bit error, and ARQ to avoid feedbacks. Through simulation experiment on method of random sequences generation, parameters selection, and transmission strategy, some useful conclusion is gotten. It provides practical data and references on practical application of underwater sensor networks.