A software-defined multi-modal wireless sensor network for ocean monitoring

The software-defined networking paradigm enables wireless sensor networks as a programmable and reconfigurable network to improve network management and efficiency. However, several challenges arise when implementing the concept of software-defined networking in maritime wireless sensor networks, as the networks operate in harsh ocean environments, and the dominant underwater acoustic systems are with limited bandwidth and high latency, which render the implementation of software-defined networking central-control difficult. To cope with the problems and meet demand for high-speed data transmission, we propose a radio frequency–acoustic software-defined networking-based multi-modal wireless sensor network which leverages benefits of both radio frequency and acoustic communication systems for ocean monitoring. We first present the software-defined networking-based multi-modal network architecture, and then explore two examples of applications with this architecture: network deployment and coverage for intrusion detection with both grid-based and random deployment scenarios, and a novel underwater testbed design by incorporating radio frequency–acoustic multi-modal techniques to facilitate marine sensor network experiments. Finally, we evaluate the performance of deployment and coverage of software-defined networking-based multi-modal wireless sensor network through simulations with several scenarios to verify the effectiveness of the network.