Harness Interference for Performance Improvement in Underwater Sensor Networks

In this paper, we propose a new communication scheme, called the mirror node assisted communication (MNAC), to improve the channel efficiency in underwater sensor networks (UWSNs). In the new scheme, a mirror node is selected properly for each specified source node so that the signals from the source and the mirror nodes could add destructively at a protected receiver. This new communication scheme could prevent potential intrusions to the communication between the protected receiver and its intended senders. By applying the MNAC, multiple data streams can be sent in parallel without causing any collisions, thereby improving the utilization of an acoustic channel. In addition to reducing the interference at the protected receiver, MNAC also enhances the communication quality of the intended receiver through a cooperative data transmission. The results from real sea experiments and simulations verify that MNAC is a promising scheme to improve the communication reliability and efficiency in a UWSN.