Analysis of Energy Optimization Techniques in Underwater Internet of Things

Abstract

The Internet of Underwater Things (UIoT) has emerged as a booming technology in today's digital world due to the enhancement of a wide range of underwater applications concerning ocean exploration, deep-sea monitoring, underwater surveillance, diver network monitoring, location, and object tracking, etc. Generally, acoustic, infrared (IR), visible light, radiofrequency (RF), and magnet induction (MI) are used as the medium of communication in order to transfer information among digitally linked underwater devices. However, each medium has its advantages and limitations: for example, the acoustic communication medium is suitable for long-range data transmission but has challenges such as narrow bandwidth, long delay, high cost, etc., and the optical medium is suitable for short-range data transmission but has challenges such as high attenuation, optical scattering due to water particles, etc. Furthermore, UIoT devices are operated using batteries with limited capacity and high energy consumption; hence energy consumption is considered one of the significant challenges in UIoT networks. Therefore, to support reliable and energy-efficient communication in UIoT networks, it is necessary to adopt robust energy optimization techniques for UIoT networks. This paper identifies the various challenges concerning energy optimization in the underwater internet of things and provides the existing energy optimization techniques considered for the underwater internet of things. Finally, this paper provides future solutions to the energy-optimization problems in UIoT devices.