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Special Issue "Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things"

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Sensor Networks".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Abdallah Makhoul
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Besancon, France
Interests: distributed algorithms; wireless sensor networks; IoT; programmable master
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jaime Lloret
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Communications, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Interests: network protocols; network algorithms; wireless sensor networks; ad hoc networks; multimedia streaming
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) have been proposed as a way to observe and explore aquatic environments. They are gaining a lot of research interest lately due to their various applications, including environmental and pollution monitoring, disaster prevention, and assisted navigation. The Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) is a part of the Internet of Things (IoT) composed of smart interconnected underwater objects. UWSN is an important feature that enables IoUT applications like marine transportation, smart oceans, emergency rescue and environmental protection, etc. Because of its environment nature, the implementation of such a system faces several challenges: the network topology (large number of needed nodes, connectivity and reliability, network protocols, etc.), limited energy and computation resources of the nodes/objects, low bandwidth capacity, security and data confidentiality, designing smart and autonomous devices dedicated to underwater environments, etc. The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together academia and industrial researchers to present their recent research in the areas of UWSN and IoUT.

Prof. Dr. Abdallah Makhoul
Prof. Dr. Jaime Lloret
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • UWSN and IoUT system optimization and deployment techniques
  • Smart underwater sensors, devices, and things
  • Artificial intelligence and deep learning techniques for IoUT
  • Underwater data sensing, mining, and dissemination
  • Underwater localization and tracking
  • UWSN and IoUT security and confidentiality
  • Underwater communication and networking technologies

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

Article
A Study of Standardizing Frequencies Using Channel Raster for Underwater Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks
Sensors 2021, 21(16), 5669; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21165669 - 23 Aug 2021
Viewed by 226
Abstract
In this paper, we propose the method to standardize acoustic frequencies for underwater wireless acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs) by applying the channel raster used in the terrestrial mobile communications. The standardization process includes: (1) Setting the available acoustic frequency band where a channel [...] Read more.
In this paper, we propose the method to standardize acoustic frequencies for underwater wireless acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs) by applying the channel raster used in the terrestrial mobile communications. The standardization process includes: (1) Setting the available acoustic frequency band where a channel raster is employed via the frequency specification analysis of the state-of-the art underwater acoustic communication modems. (2) Defining the center frequencies and the channel numbers as a function of channel raster, and the upper limit of the value of channel raster. (3) Determining the value of the channel raster suitable for the available acoustic frequency band via simulations. To set the value, three performance metrics are considered: the collision rate, the idle spectrum rate, and the receiver computational complexity. The simulation results show that the collision rate and the idle spectrum rate according to the value of channel raster have a trade-off relationship, but the influence of channel raster on the two performance metrics is insignificant. However, the receiver computational complexity is enhanced remarkably as the value of channel raster increases. Therefore, setting the value of channel raster close to its upper limit is the most adequate in respect of mitigating the occurrence of a collision and enhancing the reception performance. The standardized frequencies based on channel raster can guarantee the frequency compatibility required for the emerging technologies like the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) or the underwater cognitive radio, but also improves the network performance by avoiding the arbitrary use of frequencies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things)
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Article
A New Method for Gaining the Control of Standalone Underwater Sensor Nodes Based on Power Supply Sensing
Sensors 2021, 21(14), 4660; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21144660 - 07 Jul 2021
Viewed by 446
Abstract
In this paper, a new method for gaining the control of standalone underwater sensor nodes based on sensing the power supply evolution is presented. Underwater sensor networks are designed to support multiple extreme scenarios such as network disconnections. In those cases, the sensor [...] Read more.
In this paper, a new method for gaining the control of standalone underwater sensor nodes based on sensing the power supply evolution is presented. Underwater sensor networks are designed to support multiple extreme scenarios such as network disconnections. In those cases, the sensor nodes involved should go into standalone, and its wired and wireless communications should be disabled. This paper presents how to exit from the standalone status and enter into debugging mode following a practical ultra-low power design methodology. In addition, the discharge and regeneration effects are analyzed and modeled to minimize the error using the sensor node self measurements. Once the method is presented, its implementation details are discussed including other solutions like wake up wireless modules or a pin interruption solution. Its advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The method proposed is evaluated with several simulations and laboratory experiments using a real aquaculture sensor node. Finally, all the results obtained demonstrate the usefulness of our new method to gain the control of a standalone sensor node. The proposal is better than other approaches when the hibernation time is longer than 167.45 μs. Finally, our approach requires two orders of magnitude less energy than the best practical solution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things)
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Article
Investigating Master–Slave Architecture for Underwater Wireless Sensor Network
Sensors 2021, 21(9), 3000; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21093000 - 25 Apr 2021
Viewed by 1007
Abstract
A significant increase has been observed in the use of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) over the last few decades. However, there exist several associated challenges with UWSNs, mainly due to the nodes’ mobility, increased propagation delay, limited bandwidth, packet duplication, void holes, [...] Read more.
A significant increase has been observed in the use of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) over the last few decades. However, there exist several associated challenges with UWSNs, mainly due to the nodes’ mobility, increased propagation delay, limited bandwidth, packet duplication, void holes, and Doppler/multi-path effects. To address these challenges, we propose a protocol named “An Efficient Routing Protocol based on Master–Slave Architecture for Underwater Wireless Sensor Network (ERPMSA-UWSN)” that significantly contributes to optimizing energy consumption and data packet’s long-term survival. We adopt an innovative approach based on the master–slave architecture, which results in limiting the forwarders of the data packet by restricting the transmission through master nodes only. In this protocol, we suppress nodes from data packet reception except the master nodes. We perform extensive simulation and demonstrate that our proposed protocol is delay-tolerant and energy-efficient. We achieve an improvement of 13% on energy tax and 4.8% on Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), over the state-of-the-art protocol. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things)
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Article
Robust Silent Localization of Underwater Acoustic Sensor Network Using Mobile Anchor(s)
Sensors 2021, 21(3), 727; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21030727 - 21 Jan 2021
Viewed by 491
Abstract
Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs) can revolutionize the subsea domain by enabling low-cost monitoring of subsea assets and the marine environment. Accurate localization of the UWASNs is essential for these applications. In general, range-based localization techniques are preferred for their high accuracy in [...] Read more.
Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs) can revolutionize the subsea domain by enabling low-cost monitoring of subsea assets and the marine environment. Accurate localization of the UWASNs is essential for these applications. In general, range-based localization techniques are preferred for their high accuracy in estimated locations. However, they can be severely affected by variable sound speed, multipath spreading, and other effects of the acoustic channel. In addition, an inefficient localization scheme can consume a significant amount of energy, reducing the effective life of the battery-powered sensor nodes. In this paper, we propose robust, efficient, and practically implementable localization schemes for static UWASNs. The proposed schemes are based on the Time-Difference-of-Arrival (TDoA) measurements and the nodes are localized passively, i.e., by just listening to beacon signals from multiple anchors, thus saving both the channel bandwidth and energy. The robustness in location estimates is achieved by considering an appropriate statistical noise model based on a plausible acoustic channel model and certain practical assumptions. To overcome the practical challenges of deploying and maintaining multiple permanent anchors for TDoA measurements, we propose practical schemes of using a single or multiple surface vehicles as virtual anchors. The robustness of localization is evaluated by simulations under realistic settings. By combining a mobile anchor(s) scheme with a robust estimator, this paper presents a complete package of efficient, robust, and practically usable localization schemes for low-cost UWASNs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things)
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Article
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Controlled with an IGBT H-Bridge and Bidirectional Buck–Boost for Low-Cost 4G Devices
Sensors 2020, 20(24), 7039; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20247039 - 09 Dec 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 766
Abstract
In this work, a semi-submersible piezoelectric energy harvester was used to provide power to a low-cost 4G Arduino shield. Initially, unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS)-based simulations were conducted to investigate the dynamic forces under different conditions. An adaptive differential evolution (JADE) multivariable optimization [...] Read more.
In this work, a semi-submersible piezoelectric energy harvester was used to provide power to a low-cost 4G Arduino shield. Initially, unsteady Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS)-based simulations were conducted to investigate the dynamic forces under different conditions. An adaptive differential evolution (JADE) multivariable optimization algorithm was used for the power calculations. After JADE optimization, a communication cycle was designed. The shield works in two modes: communication and power saving. The power-saving mode is active for 285 s and the communication mode for 15 s. This cycle consumes a determinate amount of power, which requires a specific piezoelectric material and, in some situations, an extra power device, such as a battery or supercapacitor. The piezoelectric device is able to work at the maximum power point using a specific Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) H-bridge controlled with a relay action. For the extra power supply, a bidirectional buck–boost converter was implemented to flow the energy in both directions. This electronic circuit was simulated to compare the extra power supply and the piezoelectric energy harvester behavior. Promising results were obtained in terms of power production and energy storage. We used 0.59, 0.67 and 1.69 W piezoelectric devices to provide the energy for the 4G shield and extra power supply device. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things)
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Article
Analysis of Throughput and Delay for an Underwater Multi-DATA Train Protocol with Multi-RTS Reception and Block ACK
Sensors 2020, 20(22), 6473; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20226473 - 12 Nov 2020
Viewed by 512
Abstract
We propose an underwater multi-DATA train protocol with multi-RTS reception and block ACK (BACK) for underwater acoustic sensor networks. Due to long underwater acoustic propagation delay, some RTS frames may not overlap at a sink node, even if the RTS frames were sent [...] Read more.
We propose an underwater multi-DATA train protocol with multi-RTS reception and block ACK (BACK) for underwater acoustic sensor networks. Due to long underwater acoustic propagation delay, some RTS frames may not overlap at a sink node, even if the RTS frames were sent to the sink node simultaneously by different sensor nodes. We consider that our underwater sink node can recover these nonoverlapping RTS frames. Since our RTS frame contains ID of the RTS sending node and a timestamp, the sink node calculates the propagation delay between the RTS sending node and the sink node, then broadcasts a CTS frame. Since our CTS frame contains when each RTS sending node can transmit a DATA frame to the sink node, multiple DATA frames transmitted by different sensor nodes can be formed as a train at the sink node. We also propose an underwater BACK protocol which is analogous to our proposed underwater multi-DATA train protocol. We analyze normalized throughput and mean access delay of our proposed protocols and the conventional protocols. The analytical and simulation results show that our analysis is accurate and our proposed protocols outperform the conventional protocols. Our proposed protocol can shorten the delay and increase the throughput via the multi-DATA train, multi-RTS reception, and BACK. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things)
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Article
A Feasibility Analysis of an Application-Based Partial Initialization (API) Protocol for Underwater Wireless Acoustic Sensor Networks
Sensors 2020, 20(19), 5635; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20195635 - 02 Oct 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 646
Abstract
Initialization methods for underwater wireless acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs) have been proposed as a subset of other network protocols under the simple assumption that all the nodes in the network can be initialized at once. However, it is generally time- and energy-intensive to [...] Read more.
Initialization methods for underwater wireless acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs) have been proposed as a subset of other network protocols under the simple assumption that all the nodes in the network can be initialized at once. However, it is generally time- and energy-intensive to initialize all nodes in a UWASN due to unstable underwater channel conditions. To improve network efficiency, we propose the Application-based Partial Initialization (API) protocol, which initializes only the same number of nodes as the number of activated nodes required to run a specific application. Reducing the number of active nodes is also particularly advantageous underwater since the replacement of batteries is costly. To the best of our knowledge, the API is the first approach that initializes nodes partially according to applications. Thus, we investigate the feasibility of the API for a UWASN by analyzing its performance via simulations. From the results, it is shown that the API provides similar data statistics compared with the conventional full initialization that initializes all nodes. Moreover, the API outperforms the full initialization in terms of the initialization time and message overhead performances. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things)
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Article
A Fuzzy Cooperative Localisation Framework for Underwater Robotic Swarms
Sensors 2020, 20(19), 5496; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20195496 - 25 Sep 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1245
Abstract
This article proposes a holistic localisation framework for underwater robotic swarms to dynamically fuse multiple position estimates of an autonomous underwater vehicle while using fuzzy decision support system. A number of underwater localisation methods have been proposed in the literature for wireless sensor [...] Read more.
This article proposes a holistic localisation framework for underwater robotic swarms to dynamically fuse multiple position estimates of an autonomous underwater vehicle while using fuzzy decision support system. A number of underwater localisation methods have been proposed in the literature for wireless sensor networks. The proposed navigation framework harnesses the established localisation methods in order to provide navigation aids in the absence of acoustic exteroceptive sensors navigation aid (i.e., ultra-short base line) and it can be extended to accommodate newly developed localisation methods by expanding the fuzzy rule base. Simplicity, flexibility, and scalability are the main three advantages that are inherent in the proposed localisation framework when compared to other traditional and commonly adopted underwater localisation methods, such as the Extended Kalman Filter. A physics-based simulation platform that considers environment’s hydrodynamics, industrial grade inertial measurement unit, and underwater acoustic communications characteristics is implemented in order to validate the proposed localisation framework on a swarm size of 150 autonomous underwater vehicles. The proposed fuzzy-based localisation algorithm improves the entire swarm mean localisation error and standard deviation by 16.53% and 35.17%, respectively, when compared to the Extended Kalman Filter based localisation with round-robin scheduling. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things)
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Article
Underwater TDOA Acoustical Location Based on Majorization-Minimization Optimization
Sensors 2020, 20(16), 4457; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20164457 - 10 Aug 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 847
Abstract
Underwater acoustic localization is a useful technique applied to any military and civilian applications. Among the range-based underwater acoustic localization methods, the time difference of arrival (TDOA) has received much attention because it is easy to implement and relatively less affected by the [...] Read more.
Underwater acoustic localization is a useful technique applied to any military and civilian applications. Among the range-based underwater acoustic localization methods, the time difference of arrival (TDOA) has received much attention because it is easy to implement and relatively less affected by the underwater environment. This paper proposes a TDOA-based localization algorithm for an underwater acoustic sensor network using the maximum-likelihood (ML) ratio criterion. To relax the complexity of the proposed localization complexity, we construct an auxiliary function, and use the majorization-minimization (MM) algorithm to solve it. The proposed localization algorithm proposed in this paper is called a T-MM algorithm. T-MM is applying the MM algorithm to the TDOA acoustic-localization technique. As the MM algorithm iterations are sensitive to the initial points, a gradient-based initial point algorithm is used to set the initial points of the T-MM scheme. The proposed T-MM localization scheme is evaluated based on squared position error bound (SPEB), and through calculation, we get the SPEB expression by the equivalent Fisher information matrix (EFIM). The simulation results show how the proposed T-MM algorithm has better performance and outperforms the state-of-the-art localization algorithms in terms of accuracy and computation complexity even under a high presence of underwater noise. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Underwater Sensor Networks and Internet of Underwater Things)
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