A Modified Multiple Access Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Networks

MAC protocol is one of the key technologies of the underwater acoustic networks. In order to improve the performance, this paper puts forward a modified multiple access protocol UTRAMACA. The protocol adopts parallel transmission mode and handshaking method that are different from tradition's. By this way, it improves channel utilization rate both in space and time, and it is simulated by the Matlab tool. The simulation results show that the performance of this new protocol is better than the MACA protocol which was used mostly in the current underwater acoustic networks.