ABSTRACT
Underwater ad hoc communication networks have become an important field of research for many research groups in the recent years. This chapter presents an overview about the main issues in underwater wireless ad hoc networks. It explains the data link layer and the network layer protocols as a part of integral communication architecture in underwater ad hoc networks. A wireless ad hoc network is a group of communication nodes that can set up and maintain a network among themselves without the support of a base station or a central controller. The light is a radiation mix of different frequencies. The optical signals used for wireless communications are generally limited to short distances because the water has a fairly high absorption factor in the optical waveband. Underwater acoustic communications are mainly influenced by the physical properties of the medium’s own sound wave and by path loss, noise, multipath, Doppler spread, and high and variable propagation delay.
