Investigation of RF-based networking for underwater wireless sensor networks using dynamic cluster head selection strategy

Communication between two underwater wireless nodes or two underwater vehicles is possible with RF communication, provided the aspects of low transmission distance and high attenuation are taken care of in the communication system design. Notably, a cluster-based communication architecture is better suited than direct communication architecture when an RF signal is considered. This paper presents a cluster-based two-hop communication mechanism between two underwater nodes or two underwater vehicles. Particularly, a novel dynamic cluster head selection mechanism based on the unused energy and distance from cluster head to buoy has been proposed. This mechanism ensures uniform power consumption among all the underwater nodes or vehicles in a cluster. Moreover, it eliminates the necessity for a dedicated cluster head. The network performance using the proposed model has been analyzed in terms of the total network’s life and the time after which a node dies first in the network. The results have been compared with the existing communication mechanisms like communication via a fixed cluster head and direct communication.