{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,30]],"date-time":"2026-05-30T13:43:55Z","timestamp":1780148635557,"version":"3.54.0"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,19]],"date-time":"2018-06-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1529366400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper proposes a cooperative medium access control (MAC) protocol for underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) named UCMAC, which fundamentally benefits from cooperative communication. In UCMAC, a source identifies cooperators and provides its destination with a list of the cooperators while also delineating their proximity to the destination. For erroneous reception of data packets, the destination then requests retransmission to the cooperators in a closest-one-first manner. A designated cooperator transmits the buffered data packet it has successfully overheard from the source or other cooperators. A signaling procedure and the various waiting times of the nodes are carefully designed to address the overheads that stem from cooperation. Through computer simulation, this paper evaluates UCMAC in terms of system throughput, latency, single-hop packet delivery ratio (PDR), and energy efficiency. The results show that UCMAC performs better than existing schemes, including MACA-U and CD-MACA.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s18061969","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,19]],"date-time":"2018-06-19T11:20:36Z","timestamp":1529407236000},"page":"1969","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["UCMAC: A Cooperative MAC Protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Hee-won","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Electronics Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tae Ho","family":"Im","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oceanic IT Convergence Technology Research Center, Hoseo University, Asan 31499, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ho-Shin","family":"Cho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Electronics Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"257","DOI":"10.1016\/j.adhoc.2005.01.004","article-title":"Underwater acoustic sensor networks: Research challenges","volume":"3","author":"Akyildiz","year":"2005","journal-title":"Ad Hoc Netw."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Forouzan, B.A. (2007). Data Communications and Networking, McGraw-Hill. [4th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Molins, M., and Stojanovic, M. (2007, January 16\u201319). Slotted FAMA: A MAC protocol for underwater acoustic networks. Proceedings of the OCEANS 2006\u2014Asia Pacific, Singapore.","DOI":"10.1109\/OCEANSAP.2006.4393832"},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"Xie, P., and Cui, J.-H. (2011, January 1\u20133). R-MAC: An Energy-Efficient MAC Protocol for Underwater Sensor Networks. Proceedings of the International Conference on Wireless Algorithms, Systems, and Applications, Chicago, IL, USA."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Azad, S., Casari, P., Hasan, K.T., and Zorzi, M. (2014, January 12\u201314). MACA\u2013APT: A MACA-based Adaptive Packet Train Transmission Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Networks. Proceedings of the International Conference on Underwater Networks & Systems, Rome, Italy.","DOI":"10.1145\/2671490.2674580"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.1109\/MCOM.2004.1341264","article-title":"Cooperative Communication in Wireless Networks","volume":"42","author":"Nosrantinia","year":"2004","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Mag."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1927","DOI":"10.1109\/TCOMM.2003.818096","article-title":"User Cooperation Diversity\u2015Part 1: System Description","volume":"51","author":"Sendonaris","year":"2003","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Commun."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1939","DOI":"10.1109\/TCOMM.2003.819238","article-title":"User Cooperation Diversity\u2015Part 2: Implementation Aspects and Performance Analysis","volume":"51","author":"Sendonaris","year":"2003","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Commun."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Morillo-Pozo, J., Garc\u00eda-Vidal, J., and P\u00e9rez-Neira, A.I. (2005, January 2). Collaborative ARQ in Wireless Energy-Constrained Networks. Proceedings of the 2005 Joint Workshop on Foundations of Mobile Computing, Cologne, Germany.","DOI":"10.1145\/1080810.1080813"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1032","DOI":"10.1109\/TVT.2005.863426","article-title":"A Node-Cooperative ARQ Scheme for Wireless Ad Hoc Networks","volume":"55","author":"Dianati","year":"2006","journal-title":"IEEE. Trans. Veh. Technol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lu, K., Fu, S., Qian, Y., and Chen, H.-H. (2007, January 26\u201330). Increasing the Throughput of Wireless LANs via Cooperative Retransmission. Proceedings of the IEEE Global Communications Conference 2007, Washington, DC, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/GLOCOM.2007.992"},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Wang, X., and Yang, C. (2005, January 11\u201314). A MAC Protocol Supporting Cooperative Diversity for Distributed Wireless Ad Hoc Networks. Proceedings of the IEEE 16th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications, Berlin, Germany."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Shankar, S., Chou, C.-T., and Ghosh, M. (2005, January 13\u201316). Cooperative Communication MAC (CMAC)\u2014A New MAC protocol for Next Generation Wireless LANs. Proceedings of the International Conference on Wireless Networks, Communications and Mobile Computing, Maui, HI, USA."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"340","DOI":"10.1109\/JSAC.2007.070210","article-title":"CoopMAC: A Cooperative MAC for Wireless LANs","volume":"25","author":"Liu","year":"2007","journal-title":"IEEE. J. Sel. Areas Commun."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"817401","DOI":"10.1155\/2008\/817401","article-title":"Persistent RCSMA: A MAC Protocol for a Distributed Cooperative ARQ Scheme in Wireless Networks","volume":"2008","author":"Kartsakli","year":"2008","journal-title":"EURASIP J. Adv. Signal Process."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"126","DOI":"10.1109\/MCOM.2009.4785390","article-title":"Distributed Cooperative MAC for Multihop Wireless Networks","volume":"47","author":"Shan","year":"2009","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Mag."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bazzi, A. (2010). Cooperative ARQ: A Medium Access Control (MAC) Layer Perspective. Radio Communications, IntechOpen. [1st ed.].","DOI":"10.5772\/228"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"339","DOI":"10.1007\/s11277-010-0072-y","article-title":"Cooperative MAC Design in Multi-hop Wireless Networks: Part 1: When Source and Destination are within the Transmission Range of Each Other","volume":"57","author":"He","year":"2011","journal-title":"Wirel. Pers. Commun."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"190","DOI":"10.1016\/j.adhoc.2012.05.003","article-title":"Energy efficient network coding-based MAC for cooperative ARQ wireless networks","volume":"11","author":"Antonopoulos","year":"2013","journal-title":"Ad Hoc Netw."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1109\/MWC.2013.6664477","article-title":"Effect of Realistic Channel Conditions on the Energy Efficiency of Network Coding-Aided Cooperative MAC Protocols","volume":"20","author":"Antonopoulos","year":"2013","journal-title":"IEEE Wirel. Commun."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4074","DOI":"10.1109\/TVT.2014.2361670","article-title":"Cross-Layer Theoretical Analysis of NC-Aided Cooperative ARQ Protocols in Correlated Shadowed Environments","volume":"64","author":"Antonopoulos","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE. Trans. Veh. Technol."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"IEEE (2007). Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications, IEEE."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Han, Z., Sun, Y.L., and Shi, H. (2008, January 19\u201323). Cooperative Transmission for Underwater Acoustic Communications. Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Beijing, China.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICC.2008.389"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Luo, Y., Pu, L., Peng, Z., Zhou, Z., Cui, J.-H., and Zhang, Z. (2013, January 14\u201316). Effective Relay Selection for Underwater Cooperative Acoustic Networks. Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE 10th International Conference on Mobile Ad-Hoc and Sensor Systems, Hangzhou, China.","DOI":"10.1109\/MASS.2013.36"},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Gao, C., Liu, Z., Cao, B., and Mu, L. (2013, January 24\u201326). Relay Selection Scheme Based on Propagation Delay for Cooperative Underwater Acoustic Network. Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Wireless Communications and Signal Processing, Hangzhou, China."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"382","DOI":"10.1109\/LCOMM.2016.2625300","article-title":"Relay Selection in Underwater Acoustic Cooperative Networks: A Contextual Bandit Approach","volume":"21","author":"Li","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Lett."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hafeez, T., Javaid, N., Shakeel, U., Hussain, S., and Maqsood, H. (2015, January 4\u20136). An Energy Efficient Adaptive Cooperative Routing Protocol for Underwater WSNs. Proceedings of the 2015 10th International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications, Krakow, Poland.","DOI":"10.1109\/BWCCA.2015.91"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14119","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2017.2730233","article-title":"EECOR: An Energy-Efficient Cooperative Opportunistic Routing Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks","volume":"5","author":"Rahman","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Syed, A., Ye, W., and Heidemann, J. (2008, January 13\u201318). T-Lohi: A New Class of MAC Protocols for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks. Proceedings of the 27th Conference on Computer Communications, Phoenix, AZ, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/INFOCOM.2008.55"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Lee, J.W., Cheon, J.Y., and Cho, H.-S. (2010, January 24\u201327). A Cooperative ARQ scheme in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks. Proceedings of the IEEE Oceans 2010, Sydney, Australia.","DOI":"10.1109\/OCEANSSYD.2010.5603821"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kim, H., and Cho, H.-S. (2016, January 24\u201326). A Cooperative ARQ-based MAC Protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks. Proceedings of the 11th ACM International Conference on Underwater Networks and Systems, Shanghai, China.","DOI":"10.1145\/2999504.3001065"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ng, H.-H., Soh, W.-S., and Motani, M. (December, January 30). MACA-U: A Media Access Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Networks. Proceedings of the 2008 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/GLOCOM.2008.ECP.165"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1109\/MWC.2008.4454704","article-title":"A Near-Optimum Cross-Layered Distributed Queuing Protocol for Wireless LAN","volume":"15","author":"Verikoukis","year":"2008","journal-title":"IEEE Wirel. Commun."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"619","DOI":"10.1177\/0037549708099232","article-title":"Saturation Throughput Analysis of a Cluster-based Medium Access Control Protocol for Single-hop Ad Hoc Wireless Networks","volume":"84","author":"Kartsakli","year":"2008","journal-title":"Simulation"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kim, H.-W., and Cho, H.-S. (2017). SOUNET: Self-Organized Underwater Wireless Sensor Network. Sensors, 17.","DOI":"10.3390\/s17020283"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"84","DOI":"10.1109\/MCOM.2009.4752682","article-title":"Underwater Acoustic Communication Channels: Propagation Models and Statistical Characterization","volume":"47","author":"Stojanovic","year":"2009","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Mag."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"Karn, P. (1990, January 22). MACA\u2013A New Channel Access Method for Packet Radio. Proceedings of the 9th Computer Networking Conference, London, ON, Canada."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhu, Y., Zhou, Z., Peng, Z., and Cui, J.-H. (2012, January 5\u20136). \u201cBusy Terminal Problem\u201d and Implications in Underwater Acoustic Networks. Proceedings of the 7th ACM International Conference on Underwater Networks and Systems 2012 (WUWNet 2012), Los Angeles, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1145\/2398936.2398990"},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"(2017, November 13). TELEDYNE MARINE. Available online: http:\/\/www.teledynemarine.com\/903-series-atm-903?ProductLineID=8."}],"container-title":["Sensors"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/18\/6\/1969\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T15:09:18Z","timestamp":1760195358000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1424-8220\/18\/6\/1969"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,19]]},"references-count":39,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,6]]}},"alternative-id":["s18061969"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/s18061969","relation":{},"ISSN":["1424-8220"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1424-8220","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,6,19]]}}}