Programming Acoustic Modems for Underwater Networking

Underwater acoustic communication and networks have attracted significant attention in recent years, with applications ranging from ocean monitoring to off-shore sensor control, and port surveillance. Experimental data are required to test and develop effective underwater networking protocols before underwater networks can be successfully deployed for real world applications. Unfortunately, there are very few permanent underwater acoustic testbeds currently in operation, making it difficult for full scale tests to be conducted. To meet the demands for experimental data, we are working to deploy a permanent underwater acoustic network at the Northeastern University Marine Science Center in Nahant, MA. At the final stage, the network will consist of at least five SM 975 Teledyne Benthos acoustic smart modems, with one wirelessly connected to the shore through a smart buoy of our design. This paper describes the interface for programming these modems and how we used it to implement a fundamental protocol to be used as performance benchmark for more advanced underwater solutions.