Energy Consumption Model for a Broadband Shallow-Water Acoustic Communications Network

A multistatic active sonar system with several widely distributed sensors must share information between the sensors. If acoustic communication is the means used to share information, it can consume a significant fraction of the system's total energy budget. In this communication, an energy consumption model is developed for a shallow-water acoustic communications network. The model includes the environmental factors like the sound-speed profile in the water column and the composition of the seabed. The model uses the waveguide invariant concept to incorporate efficiently the broadband nature of the communications signals. Numerical results demonstrate how relaying messages between intermediate sensors can save substantial energy compared to direct communications. The calculations also show that energy consumption can vary by more than an order of magnitude depending on the seabed composition.