Current Status and Future Prospects of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Guangrui Zhou

doi:10.54254/2755-2721/2025.22319

Research Article

Open access

Published on 24 April 2025

Download pdf

Zhou,G. (2025). Current Status and Future Prospects of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks. Applied and Computational Engineering,150,21-26.

Export citation

Current Status and Future Prospects of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Guangrui Zhou *^,1,

¹ Guangdong Guangya High school, Guangzhou, China 510176

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

https://doi.org/10.54254/2755-2721/2025.22319

Abstract

Underwater wireless sensor networks are essential for ocean exploration and military use. Acoustic communication is the predominant method due to the unique underwater conditions, though challenges like low bandwidth and multipath effects hinder its effectiveness. Terrestrial communication protocols are not directly applicable underwater, making network security and stable data transmission critical research areas. This paper reviews underwater sensor network communication technologies, architectures, protocol stacks, and security challenges, assessing the suitability of various communication methods and the components of these networks. It also analyzes the main topological structures and the security risks across the physical, data link, network, transport, and application layers. Additionally, the paper investigates positioning and navigation technologies in underwater communications and their future applications. Advancements in underwater optical communication and the development of intelligent underwater networks and the underwater Internet of Things (IoUT) are identified as key future directions.

Keywords

Underwater wireless sensor networks, acoustic communication, network security

View pdf

References

[1]. Yale University. (2024, June 19). Aqua Optical III: Research and prospects of underwater optical communication technology. NetEase Subscription.

[2]. Google Patents. (n.d.). CN111245523B - Underwater data transmission system. Retrieved from https://patents.google.com/patent/CN111245523B/zh

[3]. Stokey, R., Roup, A., & Alt, V. (2005). Development of the REMUS 600 Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. In Proceedings of OCEANS 2005 (pp. 1301-1304). IEEE.

[4]. Gu, C., Zhang, J. D., & Zhu, X. H. (2009). Signal processing and detection of multi-carrier modulation radar systems based on OFDM. Journal of Electronics and Information Technology, 31(6), 1298-1300.

[5]. Wei, Z. Q., Yang, G., & Cong, Y. P. (2012). Research on underwater sensor network security (Doctoral dissertation).

[6]. Law, Y. W., van Hoesel, L., Doumen, J., Hartel, P., Havinga, P., & Palaniswami, M. (2009). Energy-efficient link-layer jamming attacks against wireless sensor network MAC protocols. ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks, 5(1), 76-88.

[7]. Raymond, D. R., Marchany, R. C., Brownfield, M. I., & Midki, S. F. (n.d.). Effects of denial-of-sleep attacks on wireless sensor networks.

[8]. Sun, D. J., Zheng, C. E., Zhang, J. C., Han, Y. F., & Cui, H. Y. (2019). Development and prospects of underwater acoustic positioning and navigation technology. Bulletin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 34(3), 331-338.

[9]. Qian, H. B., & Sun, D. J. (2011). Current status of underwater acoustic positioning systems. Acoustics Technology, 30(3), 389-391.

[10]. Sun, D. J., Zheng, C. E., Qian, H. B., et al. (2012). Application of underwater acoustic positioning systems in marine engineering. Acoustics Technology, (2), 125-132. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn1000-3630.2012.02.003

[11]. Tian, T. (2007). Underwater positioning and navigation technology. Beijing: National Defense Industry Press.

Cite this article

Zhou,G. (2025). Current Status and Future Prospects of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks. Applied and Computational Engineering,150,21-26.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer/Publisher's Note

The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Software Engineering and Machine Learning

Conference website: https://www.confseml.org/

ISBN：978-1-80590-063-4(Print) / 978-1-80590-064-1(Online)

Conference date: 2 July 2025

Editor：Marwan Omar

Series: Applied and Computational Engineering

Volume number: Vol.150

ISSN：2755-2721(Print) / 2755-273X(Online)

© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See Open access policy for details).