Feasibility of electromagnetic communication in underwater wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Underwater Wireless Sensor networks (UWSNs) comprised of a number of sensor nodes that are deployed to perform collaborative monitoring tasks. Sensor nodes are connected to each other through wireless signals. Acoustic signal is the dominant wave used for UWSNs communications. Acoustic signals face a lot of challenges such as ambient noise, manmade noise, limited bandwidth, multipath and low propagation speed. These challenges become more severe in shallow water environment where a high level of ambient and manmade noise, turbidity and multipath is available. Therefore, Electromagnetic signals can be applied for using as a communication signal for UWSNs. In this work, the performance of electromagnetic communication in the water environment is investigated. The investigation is conducted for fresh and seawater environment. Results show that freshwater environment can permit short range communication while the communication is more difficult for seawater due to the high value of attenuation.