Software-in-loop simulation environment for electromagnetic underwaterwireless sensor networks over stanag 5066 protocol

Abstract

In this work, the development of a software-in-loop platform to carry out Underwater Wireless Sensor Network (UWSN) simulations using a real-time STANAG 5066 stack is presented. The used protocol stack is part of a real-world implementation of an underwater wireless node based on ElectroMagnetic (EM) Underwater Radio Frequency Communication (EM-URFC), framed within Spanish Government’s project HERAKLES. The main objective of this work was to assess the suitability of this software-in-loop approach for carrying out realistic UWSN simulations. In addition to a detailed description of the simulation process, several simulations considering an illustrative network topology are performed, analyzing the impact of different critical parameters on the network performance. The conclusions suggest that the developed software-in-loop platform is suitable to carry out UWSN network tests using a real-world implementation of the STANAG 5066 stack. Moreover, other real-time protocol stacks may be easily adapted with minor modifications.