CAPTAIN: A data collection algorithm for underwater optical-acoustic sensor networks

Abstract

Underwater sensor networks are used to collect data from aquatic environments. Nodes from these networks usually communicate via acoustic or optical transmissions due to the poor performance of radiofrequency communication in these environments. Acoustic transmissions achieve longer distances than optical ones, but also consume more energy and have lower bandwidth. Underwater optical-acoustic sensor networks (UOASNs) combine both types of communication to explore the best of each one. In this paper, we propose CAPTAIN, an algorithm to perform data collection with data aggregation in UOASNs. CAPTAIN divides the network into clusters, builds a routing tree, and uses data aggregation to deliver all data collected to the sink node. Experiments showed that, compared to the shortest path algorithm, CAPTAIN led to lower network energy consumption, especially in denser networks, where it was able to consume, on average, up to 73% less. CAPTAIN could also achieve lower average latencies (up to almost 83% lower) and higher rates of data collected per hour by the sink node using fewer acoustic transmissions in clustered networks.