Underwater Communications and Sensor Networks

Dear Colleagues,

The field of underwater communications and networking is growing rapidly thanks to the key role it plays in many military and commercial applications. Among these are disaster prevention, tactical surveillance, offshore exploration, pollution monitoring and oceanographic data collection. The underwater acoustic propagation channel presents several challenges, including the slow propagation of acoustic waves, limited bandwidth, and high and variable propagation delay. Furthermore, it is affected by fading, Doppler spread and multipath propagation. Therefore, efficient protocol design tailored for underwater communications and networking entails many challenges. Recently, advanced communication techniques using acoustic, electromagnetic and/or optical waves have emerged to address some of the fundamental and practical challenges in underwater wireless communications.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to solicit original manuscripts on all aspects of underwater communications and networking, including (but not limited to):

• Underwater wireless communications, including acoustic, optical, RF, and magneto-inductive.
• Advanced signal processing techniques for underwater communications.
• Machine learning for adaptive underwater communications.
• Multiple-access techniques.
• Medium access control.
• Link-layer reliability.
• Multi-hop routing.
• Underwater localization, positioning, and tracking in underwater.
• Underwater wireless sensor networks.
• Demonstration of field trials, experiments, and test-beds.
• Energy harvesting for underwater sensor networks.

Our intention is to bring together the latest developments in the field within this single issue, as a valuable resource for both new and experienced researchers in the field.

Dr. Hovannes Kulhandjian
Guest Editor
Dr. Michel Kulhandjian
Co-Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• underwater communications
• underwater networks
• acoustic communications
• machine learning
• coding theory
• multiple-access techniques
• localization in underwater
• visible light communications
• medium access control
• energy harvesting