Fountain codes and their application to broadcasting in underwater networks: performance modeling and relevant tradeoffs

Authors:
Paolo Casari;Michele Rossi;Michele Zorzi
Affiliations:
University of Padova, Padova, Italy;University of Padova, Padova, Italy;University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Venue:
Proceedings of the third ACM international workshop on Underwater Networks
Year:
2008

Citing 7
Cited 3

LT Codes

FOCS '02 Proceedings of the 43rd Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science
When underwater acoustic nodes should sleep with one eye open: idle-time power management in underwater sensor networks

WUWNet '06 Proceedings of the 1st ACM international workshop on Underwater networks
A MAC protocol for ad-hoc underwater acoustic sensor networks

WUWNet '06 Proceedings of the 1st ACM international workshop on Underwater networks
Routing algorithms for delay-insensitive and delay-sensitive applications in underwater sensor networks

Proceedings of the 12th annual international conference on Mobile computing and networking
A hybrid medium access control protocol for underwater wireless networks

Proceedings of the second workshop on Underwater networks
Energy-efficient reliable broadcast in underwater acoustic networks

Proceedings of the second workshop on Underwater networks
On the relationship between capacity and distance in an underwater acoustic communication channel

ACM SIGMOBILE Mobile Computing and Communications Review

SDRT: A reliable data transport protocol for underwater sensor networks

Ad Hoc Networks
Reliable transport and storage protocol with fountain codes for underwater acoustic sensor networks

Proceedings of the Fifth ACM International Workshop on UnderWater Networks
Cross-layer analysis of error control in underwater wireless sensor networks

Computer Communications

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

Our aim in this paper is to study the performance of broadcasting algorithms for underwater acoustic sensor networks (UWASNs). The targeted scenario is very simple; we consider a source (the initiator of the broadcast transmission) and a number of nodes randomly placed within a given geographical area. For an efficient broadcast transmission we advocate the use of a hybrid ARQ scheme, where Fountain Codes (FC) are exploited to enhance the efficiency of the data dissemination process in the face of poor and possibly unknown channel conditions. FC codes, being rateless, are in fact able to adapt to diverse error rates and correct packet losses on the fly through the transmission of additional redundancy packets. The main contribution of this paper is a mathematical model to characterize the performance of fountain codes as applied to broadcasting in underwater networks. Our analysis allows us to find performance metrics such as transmission delay, reliability (e.g., percentage of covered users) and power consumption. Relevant tradeoffs are highlighted and quantified; in particular the implications of transmission power on covered distance, rate and delay are discussed. Even though we do not propose a practical broadcasting protocol here, the results and tradeoffs we obtain are essential to a proper design of practical schemes.