Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MONUSEN (MONtenegrin center for Underwater SEnsor Networks)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-09-01 bis 2025-05-31
Underwater Sensor Networks (USNs) play a key role in oceanographic monitoring, resource exploration, environmental protection, and maritime security. However, due to technological complexity and limited regional expertise, research capacity in this domain remains unevenly distributed across Europe. The MONUSEN project addressed this gap by strengthening the research and innovation capabilities of the UoM through structured collaboration with three leading EU institutions: UNIZG-FER, UNEW, and CNR.
The project was designed to enhance UoM’s scientific excellence and integration into the European research area through four strategic objectives:
1. Reinforce UoM’s internal research capacity in the areas of underwater communication, sensing, and mobile robotic systems.
2. Establish sustainable collaboration frameworks with advanced partners, based on joint research and experimental campaigns.
3. Strengthen UoM’s research management and innovation potential, through targeted training in project administration, proposal writing, and knowledge exploitation.
4. Increase UoM’s visibility and stakeholder engagement, by organizing events and outreach activities that foster interaction with research peers, industry, end-users in the marine domain, and the wider public.
The project was designed to enhance UoM’s scientific excellence and integration into the European research area through four strategic objectives:
1. Reinforce UoM’s internal research capacity in the areas of underwater communication, sensing, and mobile robotic systems.
2. Establish sustainable collaboration frameworks with advanced partners, based on joint research and experimental campaigns.
3. Strengthen UoM’s research management and innovation potential, through targeted training in project administration, proposal writing, and knowledge exploitation.
4. Increase UoM’s visibility and stakeholder engagement, by organizing events and outreach activities that foster interaction with research peers, industry, end-users in the marine domain, and the wider public.
The technical and scientific activities of MONUSEN were primarily implemented through objectives 1 and 2, with objectives 3 and 4 providing essential support for research execution and validation.
The core technical work centered on strengthening UoM's research capacity in underwater communication protocols, data processing, and mobile sensor networks (Objective 1). This was achieved through 12 expert visits, 12 hands-on training sessions, and 6 research staff exchanges, covering advanced topics in MAC protocol development, underwater acoustic communication, marine robotics control, and security systems. Training activities combined theoretical foundations with practical implementation using acoustic modems, embedded systems, and autonomous surface vehicles, establishing core technical competencies at UoM for developing and testing innovative underwater sensing and networking solutions.
Joint research activities (Objective 2) focused on collaborative technical development and experimental validation across three key areas: adaptive communication protocols for underwater networks, security and authentication systems for marine environments, and cooperative control algorithms for autonomous vehicle coordination. The consortium conducted 10 joint experimental campaigns across marine environments in Montenegro, Croatia, and the UK, validating new technical approaches under realistic operational conditions. This collaborative research produced 10 co-authored publications out of 27 total publications and led to 11 joint project proposals.
Supporting activities included research management capacity building (Objective 3) and networking events (Objective 4), which, while not directly technical, were essential for sustaining research quality, enabling technology transfer, and providing real-world validation environments through stakeholder engagement and hands-on demonstrations.
Outcomes of the technical and scientific work include substantial enhancement of UoM's capabilities in underwater sensor network technologies, successful development and validation of novel communication and control methods, establishment of comprehensive research infrastructure, and creation of sustainable technical collaboration frameworks with leading European institutions. These technical foundations are being extended through follow-up projects, providing a strong basis for continued innovation in marine monitoring and underwater robotics.
The core technical work centered on strengthening UoM's research capacity in underwater communication protocols, data processing, and mobile sensor networks (Objective 1). This was achieved through 12 expert visits, 12 hands-on training sessions, and 6 research staff exchanges, covering advanced topics in MAC protocol development, underwater acoustic communication, marine robotics control, and security systems. Training activities combined theoretical foundations with practical implementation using acoustic modems, embedded systems, and autonomous surface vehicles, establishing core technical competencies at UoM for developing and testing innovative underwater sensing and networking solutions.
Joint research activities (Objective 2) focused on collaborative technical development and experimental validation across three key areas: adaptive communication protocols for underwater networks, security and authentication systems for marine environments, and cooperative control algorithms for autonomous vehicle coordination. The consortium conducted 10 joint experimental campaigns across marine environments in Montenegro, Croatia, and the UK, validating new technical approaches under realistic operational conditions. This collaborative research produced 10 co-authored publications out of 27 total publications and led to 11 joint project proposals.
Supporting activities included research management capacity building (Objective 3) and networking events (Objective 4), which, while not directly technical, were essential for sustaining research quality, enabling technology transfer, and providing real-world validation environments through stakeholder engagement and hands-on demonstrations.
Outcomes of the technical and scientific work include substantial enhancement of UoM's capabilities in underwater sensor network technologies, successful development and validation of novel communication and control methods, establishment of comprehensive research infrastructure, and creation of sustainable technical collaboration frameworks with leading European institutions. These technical foundations are being extended through follow-up projects, providing a strong basis for continued innovation in marine monitoring and underwater robotics.
MONUSEN produced several technical innovations that advance the state of the art in underwater sensor networks (USNs), including contributions in MAC protocol design, security, waveform development, and cooperative control for mobile sensing platforms.
Learning-based adaptive MAC protocols:
The project introduced multiple MAC-layer schemes that leverage reinforcement learning to improve performance under uncertain and dynamic conditions. In these protocols, nodes iteratively adjust their transmission strategies (e.g. slot and offset selection) using local feedback, without requiring explicit knowledge of the network topology.
Asynchronous, energy-efficient protocols for event-driven sensing:
To support long-duration monitoring missions with sparse traffic, MONUSEN developed an asynchronous, duty-cycled MAC protocol that enables nodes to wake independently and initiate transmissions only upon event detection. The protocol includes a sender-initiated handshake, probabilistic collision avoidance, and anycast routing logic tailored to underwater acoustic propagation constraints. Field trials confirmed reliable multi-hop delivery with reduced energy consumption and minimal coordination overhead.
Security and authentication across protocol layers:
MONUSEN advanced USN security by developing complementary solutions at both the cryptographic and physical layers. At the cryptographic level, a blockchain-based authentication framework was developed for clustered acoustic networks with mobile nodes and surface gateways. This approach enables decentralized session management, supports fast and lightweight re-authentication, and provides a secure mechanism for tracking communication history. It is particularly suited to dynamic topologies where nodes frequently switch cluster heads, and where centralized certificate authorities are infeasible.
At the physical layer, the project introduced UW-TIDE, a non-cooperative authentication method based on distributional embeddings of channel impulse responses in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). Unlike traditional or machine learning-based classifiers, UW-TIDE requires no labeled attack data and continuously adapts to the natural dynamics of the underwater channel. This makes it particularly effective in scenarios where training data is scarce or environmental variability is high.
Robust waveforms for resilient and eco-friendly communication:
Chaotic modulation schemes were designed and validated, offering improved robustness in highly dispersive, low-SNR underwater channels. Their noise-like spectral profile also minimizes acoustic disturbance to marine life. Field tests in the North Sea demonstrated reliable decoding at multi-kilometer distances and confirmed the practical feasibility in low-power deployments.
Cooperative guidance and formation control of mobile platforms: guidance algorithms were developed for underactuated marine vehicles, including sideslip-compensated line-of-sight tracking, adaptive curved-path following, and formation control using distributed observers. These methods were validated through experimental campaigns involving multiple autonomous surface vehicles, showing stable performance under realistic disturbances and communication constraints. The results contribute toward scalable coordination strategies in hybrid mobile USNs.
To ensure further exploitation and impact, several needs have been identified:
- Demonstration at larger scale, particularly in open-sea and multi-node deployments to support operational readiness.
- Dedicated funding for technology maturation.
- Support for IP assessment and licensing pathways.
Learning-based adaptive MAC protocols:
The project introduced multiple MAC-layer schemes that leverage reinforcement learning to improve performance under uncertain and dynamic conditions. In these protocols, nodes iteratively adjust their transmission strategies (e.g. slot and offset selection) using local feedback, without requiring explicit knowledge of the network topology.
Asynchronous, energy-efficient protocols for event-driven sensing:
To support long-duration monitoring missions with sparse traffic, MONUSEN developed an asynchronous, duty-cycled MAC protocol that enables nodes to wake independently and initiate transmissions only upon event detection. The protocol includes a sender-initiated handshake, probabilistic collision avoidance, and anycast routing logic tailored to underwater acoustic propagation constraints. Field trials confirmed reliable multi-hop delivery with reduced energy consumption and minimal coordination overhead.
Security and authentication across protocol layers:
MONUSEN advanced USN security by developing complementary solutions at both the cryptographic and physical layers. At the cryptographic level, a blockchain-based authentication framework was developed for clustered acoustic networks with mobile nodes and surface gateways. This approach enables decentralized session management, supports fast and lightweight re-authentication, and provides a secure mechanism for tracking communication history. It is particularly suited to dynamic topologies where nodes frequently switch cluster heads, and where centralized certificate authorities are infeasible.
At the physical layer, the project introduced UW-TIDE, a non-cooperative authentication method based on distributional embeddings of channel impulse responses in a reproducing kernel Hilbert space (RKHS). Unlike traditional or machine learning-based classifiers, UW-TIDE requires no labeled attack data and continuously adapts to the natural dynamics of the underwater channel. This makes it particularly effective in scenarios where training data is scarce or environmental variability is high.
Robust waveforms for resilient and eco-friendly communication:
Chaotic modulation schemes were designed and validated, offering improved robustness in highly dispersive, low-SNR underwater channels. Their noise-like spectral profile also minimizes acoustic disturbance to marine life. Field tests in the North Sea demonstrated reliable decoding at multi-kilometer distances and confirmed the practical feasibility in low-power deployments.
Cooperative guidance and formation control of mobile platforms: guidance algorithms were developed for underactuated marine vehicles, including sideslip-compensated line-of-sight tracking, adaptive curved-path following, and formation control using distributed observers. These methods were validated through experimental campaigns involving multiple autonomous surface vehicles, showing stable performance under realistic disturbances and communication constraints. The results contribute toward scalable coordination strategies in hybrid mobile USNs.
To ensure further exploitation and impact, several needs have been identified:
- Demonstration at larger scale, particularly in open-sea and multi-node deployments to support operational readiness.
- Dedicated funding for technology maturation.
- Support for IP assessment and licensing pathways.