Discrete Events and Finite State Machine Based Program Architecture for Underwater Acoustic Communication Network Simulation

In recent years, ocean exploration is more and more popular in the world and underwater acoustic communication networks are becoming useful. As a result, it is important to have a research tool that is easy to learn for underwater network research. This paper introduces a kind of program architecture used for underwater network simulation. It is based on two key methods, which are discrete events and finite state machines. It can simulate main process of physical-layer communication, MAC and route protocols in network. As for communication in physical layer, signal to noise ratio (SNR) of a received signal at a node can be calculated. Furthermore, the process of two signals colliding together at a node can also be simulated and signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) can be calculated. Process of MAC and route protocols can also be simulated, such as backoff and timing, handshaking and searching for routes.Comparing with other network simulation software, such as OPNET and NS2, the program introduced in this paper has an advantage, which is easy and testable. It can be implemented using C programming language and windows operating system. Programmer does not need to spend time to learn LINUX operating system. Programmer can monitor operation status while program running, convenient to debug. It is easy to search for the place where mistake happens.