The start of change and the strategy of maritime wireless networks

In October 2017, His Highness the Crown Prince - may God protect him - launched the NEOM project, which emerged from a clear vision for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2030, which seeks to invest in the strengths that God has endowed us with, from a distinguished strategic location and a pioneering investment force

The NEOM project is located in the far northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, at a length of 460 km on the Red Sea coast. One of the objectives of this huge project is to develop a number of key economic sectors for the future, including the future of energy and water, and the future of technological and digital sciences. From this standpoint, this article presents some information related to underwater sensor networks, which have recently emerged as a powerful method for aquatic applications, and their importance in the present time.

The importance of these applications is increasing in many fields, Including:

environmental and pollution monitoring, environmental and ocean data collection, early warning systems, disaster prevention, distributed tactical surveillance, water navigation, and resource discovery, because water covers nearly two-thirds of the Earth's surface (70%). ). Therefore, most of the resources under the surface of the water have not been discovered except for a small part of them. In contrast to the terrestrial networks that contain a two-dimensional network (Two Dimensional). Underwater wireless sensor networks are a class of ad hoc networks similar to other types of sensor networks, consisting of a variable number of sensors collectively distributed underwater, to perform collaborative monitoring tasks over a predetermined area.

Environmental sensors are called sensors. Underwater "devices" or "nodes" that sense the required information according to the application's request. These “nodes” can be either in a stationary state, in motion, or both, in order to transmit sensory information using acoustic signals.

The underwater environment has its own physical limitations and unique characteristics that must be taken into account. While designing protocols for routing or medium access control over a watery network, including slow propagation speed, limited bandwidth, power limitations, node movement with water stream, and high deployment costs.

Uses « Nodes » water sound waves in communication, at a transmission speed of 1500 meters per second (m / s). As a result of its lower propagation speed, higher propagation delays occur in communication, even between two adjacent nodes. For example, an underwater acoustic sensor network can use a single or multiple modems on the surface of the water, and the acoustic modem is used for underwater communications. Satellite to Monitoring Center). The 'nodes', called anchored nodes, are located on the ocean floor at predetermined locations to collect information. This information is delivered to other nodes, called the Relay node, which is located between the nodes on the surface of the water (Sink node) and the nodes installed at depth or the sea floor, and these nodes are at different levels in depth. Developing applications of underwater wireless sensor networks in many areas is of interest, especially applications that serve the giant NEOM project.