FCLR: Fuzzy Control-Based Layering Routing Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Networks

Because of their wide application in the underwater environment, underwater acoustic networks (UANs) have received increased attention.However, the intrinsic attributions of low bandwidth, long propagation delay, high bit error rate, and restricted energy bring about great challenges to data transmission in UANs. In this article, we propose a routing protocol for UANs called the fuzzy control-based layering routing (FCLR) protocol. With the FCLR protocol, an underwater node may learn or update its layer and the information of its neighbors from packets overhead before selecting the best forwarding node (BFN). A fuzzy control system (FCS) is used to select the BFN based on the input variables including residual energy and node density of neighbor nodes. Extensive experiments are conducted by the NS3 network simulator to evaluate the performance of the FCLR protocol. The results show that the FCLR protocol has superior performance in terms of packet delivery rate (PDR), endto- end delay (EED), and total energy consumption (TEC). Furthermore, the FCLR protocol is tested in Qinghai Lake, the largest saltwater lake in China, and its performance was evaluated in terms of PDR, throughput, and EED. When nodes are moving, the PDR can reach 92.6% and the throughput can reach 350.64 bps.