An Asynchronous Multicluster Network System for AUV Swarm Communication and Positioning: Design and Trial

This paper proposes a novel multi-cluster network system for autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) swarm communication and positioning, addressing challenges of low throughput, high end-to-end delay, and significant ranging errors in traditional asynchronous underwater acoustic networks. The proposed system introduces a novel hybrid Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol, which combines intra-cluster Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) with inter-cluster Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) to enhance channel utilization. Additionally, the system introduces an adaptive time-offset estimation method based on network data exchange and the Ultra-Short Baseline Moving Ranging (USBL-MR) algorithm, which significantly improves network throughput and reduces delay and improves positioning accuracy. Field trials demonstrate that the system achieves a throughput of 398.3 bps with an end-to-end delay of 21.2 s. Furthermore, the ranging Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) has been reduced from 7.87 to 2.42 m, marking a 14% improvement in positioning accuracy.