Analyzing lifetime of energy harvesting underwater wireless sensor nodes

Abstract

Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) are utilized to monitor underwater environments that pose many challenges to researchers. One of the key complications of UWSNs is the difficulty of changing node batteries after their energy is depleted. This study aims to diminish the issues related to battery replacement by improving node lifetime. For this goal, three energy harvesting devices (turbine harvester, piezoelectric harvester, and hydrophone harvester) are analyzed to quantitate their impacts on node lifetime. In addition, two different power management schemes (schedule-driven and event-driven power management schemes) are combined with energy harvesters for further lifetime improvement. Performance evaluations via simulations show that energy harvesting methods joined by power management schemes can improve node lifetime substantially when actual conditions of Istanbul Bosporus Strait are considered. In this respect, turbine harvester makes the biggest impact and provides lifetime beyond 2000 days for most cases, while piezoelectric harvester can perform the same only for low duty cycle or event arrival values at short transmission ranges.