Mu-Net: Community-shared infrastructure for mobile underwater acoustic networks

Abstract

It is well recognized that there is a strong need for shared testbeds to promote research growth in underwater communities. We are developing an open-source, open-architecture, community-shared infrastructure for mobile underwater acoustic networks, namely mu-Net. The overall goal is to support research and education in the joint communities of underwater signal processing, communications, networking, and robotics. The mu-Net infrastructure consists of three main components: an indoor testbed, a lake testbed, and underlying open-architecture software. The mu-Net software uses a service-oriented architecture to interface with open-access autonomy suites, such as MOOS-IvP and ROS. Functions associated with sensing, communication, networking, vehicle behaviors, and navigation are compartmentalized as modular service units. The indoor testbed is developed for lab tests with a moderate number of nodes, for example, eight nodes, for deployments in a swimming pool. The lake testbed uses two commercial autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that can be deployed in a lake. We will provide shared access to both testbeds for data collection and algorithm validation. We will present the software architecture, hardware instruments, and the obtained acoustic measurements from the testbeds.