Low-power acoustic modem for dense underwater sensor networks

ABSTRACT

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.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  B. Hardware
  B.4 INPUT/OUTPUT AND DATA COMMUNICATIONS
      B.4.1 Data Communications Devices

General Terms:
Design, Measurement

Keywords:
acoustic modems, low power, underwater networks, wireless sensor networks