时间同步是传感器节点协同工作的基础.水下传感器网络由于采用水声通信方式,具有不同于陆地无线传感器网络的特点,为时间同步算法研究带来了新的挑战.论文首先说明同步问题与同步算法的形式化定义,然后讨论水下传感器网络不同于陆地传感器网络的特点,并指出相关特点对于同步问题的影响;接着综述陆地传感器网络同步算法的研究进展,分析相关算法用于水下环境的不足;进而介绍水下传感器网络同步算法的研究进展,并通过仿真实验完成了相关算法的性能对比;最后总结水下传感器网络时间同步的关键问题,指出进一步的研究方向.
Time synchronization is the basis for collaboration across multiple sensor nodes.Underwater sensor networks(UWSNs) have different characteristics from the terrestrial wireless sensor networks,where communication is primarily via acoustic signals,producing new challenges to time synchronization.This paper first illustrates the definitions of the problem and algorithm of time synchronization,describes the major differences between underwater acoustic communication and terrestrial wireless communication,and discusses the influences to time synchronization causing by these differences;then reviews the terrestrial time synchronization algorithms,pointing out the reasons why such algorithms cannot be applied to underwater environment.Afterwards,a thorough review of the research progress on time synchronization for UWSNs has been presented with the performance comparison among four major algorithms through simulations.Finally,we summarize the crucial issues on time synchronization for UWSNs,and indicate the future research directions.