Three-Dimensional Ocean Sensor Networks： A Survey

The past decade has seen a growing interest in ocean sensor networks because of their wide applications in marine re- search, oceanography, ocean monitoring, offshore exploration, and defense or homeland security. Ocean sensor networks are gener- ally formed with various ocean sensors, autonomous underwater vehicles, surface stations, and research vessels. To make ocean sen- sor network applications viable, efficient communication among all devices and components is crucial. Due to the unique character- istics of underwater acoustic channels and the complex deployment environment in three dimensional （3D） ocean spaces, new effi- cient and reliable communication and networking protocols are needed in design of ocean sensor networks. In this paper, we aim to provide an overview of the most recent advances in network design principles for 3D ocean sensor networks, with focuses on de- ployment, localization, topology design, and position-based routing in 3D ocean spaces.