A Cluster-Based Adaptive Routing Algorithm for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs) have attracted much attention in both the academic and industrial fields. Routing design of a UASN is an important part of the research, yet routing algorithms with low energy consumption and high data delivery ratios are not established completely. This paper proposed the Cluster-Based Adaptive Routing Algorithm (CBAR) to fulfill the demands of large-scale underwater sensor networks. It optimized the network architecture by introducing the concept of a cluster in cellular wireless communication. Inspired by Focus Beam Routing and Hop-By-Hop Dynamic Addressing Routing protocol, the CBAR algorithm is designed to achieve better performance in large-scale UASNs. In CBAR, the format of transmitting data packets is simplified to suit the clustered network architecture and two adaptive methods are included: dynamic routing updates to adapt to the characteristics of the underwater environment, and power control to reduce energy consumption in the routing process. The result of simulation shows that the CBAR performs better than Focus Beam Routing and Distributed Underwater Clustering Scheme in terms of energy consumption and data delivery ratio, because CBAR can significantly reduce the energy consumption of the network and improve the life cycle of nodes with an optimal data delivery ratio.