Energy efficient topology control in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks.

Topology control in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) has been an active area of research owing to unique challenges an underwater environment poses. Node mobility due to water currents creates problems in localization and data transfer. In this paper, we propose an energy efficient topology control for mobile UWSNs using Expectation Maximization (EM) and Vickrey–Clarke–Groves (VCG) Auction mechanism. In the first stage, followed by a water current induced topology disturbance, the designated cluster head runs the EM algorithm to find similar sensor nodes in its proximity. In the second stage, cluster head runs VCG auction mechanism to compensate sensor nodes for costs incurred during data transfer. This ensures seamless data transmission between sensor nodes of heterogeneous ownership leading to higher energy efficiency. Simulations present higher energy efficiency of the network post EM and VCG steps. Comparison with existing protocols demonstrates superior performance of the protocol proposed in this paper. [Display omitted] • Node mobility in underwater sensor networks disturbs network topology. • Extant game theory-based protocols for topology control are not flexible enough. • Our protocol uses Expectation Maximization for soft clustering of sensor nodes. • Sensor nodes are compensated for data transfer through an auction mechanism. • Our protocol gives better results in simulations-based comparisons with extant protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]