Low-power acoustic modem for dense underwater sensor networks

Significant progress has been made in terrestrial sensor networks to revolutionize sensing and data collection. To bring the concept of long-lived, dense sensor networks to the underwater environment, there is a compelling need to develop low-cost and low-power acoustic modems for short-range communications. This paper presents our work in designing and developing such a modem. We describe our design rationale followed by details of both hardware and software development. We have performed preliminary tests with transducers for in-air communications. Categories and Subject Descriptors B.4.1 [Input/Output and Data Communications]: Data Communications Devices General Terms Design, Measurement Keywords Underwater networks, wireless sensor networks, low power, acoustic modems

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: MOBICOM
• Authors: Jack Wills, Wei Ye, John S. Heidemann
• Keywords: Acoustic Modems, MOBICOM 2006, Sensor Networks, Terrestrial Sensor Networks