On the use of information-carrying based route protocol in real UWSN deployments with high traffic load

Underwater networks that are designed to carry high-priority data at a relatively high traffic load should employ network protocols that emphasize low delay and adequate reliability at the expense of energy. ICRP (Information-Carrying based Routing Protocol), originally proposed by Wei Liang et al. [1] in 2007, is a routing protocol that obtain unicast routing paths by sending data payload as broadcast packets when no route information is available. Thus, data can be delivered without the cost of reactive signalling latency. In this paper we explore the capabilities of a slightly modified ICRP by analysis and simulation, and by looking into the ICRP's suitability and performance when adapted to real network deployments. It turns out that ICRP can manage high traffic load, as long as link conditions meet certain quality criteria to enable sufficient modem bit rates and capacity headroom.