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By jointly optimizing the communication protocol stack and the distributed learning process, the system performance is enhanced. To support the efficient operation of this framework, two key technologies are proposed: (i) a Reinforcement Learning\u2013based Dynamic Modulation Switching algorithm, which enhances channel adaptability through real-time optimization of physical layer parameters, and (ii) a Channel State Information\u2013aware Lightweight Federated Learning mechanism, which utilizes dynamic compression techniques to reduce communication overhead and improve the efficiency of distributed training. These methods aim to overcome the challenges of underwater acoustic communication, achieving efficient, reliable, and intelligent cooperative operations for AUV swarms.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/comjnl\/bxaf122","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,15]],"date-time":"2025-11-15T14:40:52Z","timestamp":1763217652000},"page":"397-418","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A MARL-FL framework for intelligent acoustic cooperative communication in AUV swarms"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"69","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-8697-5709","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chao","family":"Wu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mathematical Sciences, Hebei Normal University , No. 20 Nan\u2019erhuan East Road, Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050024,","place":["China"]},{"name":"Zhengding Advanced Normal College of Hebei , No. 29 Hua\u2019an West Road, Zhengding County, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050800 ,","place":["China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-6225-2981","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jingyu","family":"Huo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer and Cyber Security, Hebei Normal University , No. 20 Nan\u2019erhuan East Road, Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050024 ,","place":["China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-9760-6253","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jiaxing","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mathematical Sciences, Hebei Normal University , No. 20 Nan\u2019erhuan East Road, Yuhua District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050024,","place":["China"]},{"name":"Zhengding Advanced Normal College of Hebei , No. 29 Hua\u2019an West Road, Zhengding County, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050800 ,","place":["China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026021823461716500_ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1699","DOI":"10.1093\/comjnl\/bxad094","article-title":"Underwater wireless sensor network-based Delaunay triangulation (UWSN-DT) algorithm for sonar map fusion","volume":"67","author":"Yuan","year":"2024","journal-title":"Comput J"},{"key":"2026021823461716500_ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"24185","DOI":"10.1109\/jsen.2021.3115581","article-title":"Channel distribution and noise characteristics of distributed acoustic sensing underwater communications","volume":"21","author":"Zuo","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Sensors J"},{"key":"2026021823461716500_ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"399","DOI":"10.1007\/s11277-021-08642-6","article-title":"Pilot assisted MIMO-OFDM-IM Design for Time-Varying Underwater Acoustic Communications","volume":"121","author":"Altabbaa","year":"2021","journal-title":"Wirel Pers Commun"},{"key":"2026021823461716500_ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"397","DOI":"10.1007\/978-981-97-1095-9_36","volume-title":"Proceedings of 3rd 2023 International Conference on Autonomous Unmanned Systems (3rd ICAUS 2023), Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 1175. 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