On the spatial correlation in shallow water and its impact on networking protocols

In this paper, we study the spatial correlation of the communications performance in a static scenario, by using the SPACE08 experimental data set. Specifically we estimate the channel quality in terms of Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) at the output of the equalizer, at four receiving stations, which were deployed at different distances and orientations, and we compute their cross correlation both in time and in space. This experimental study on the spatial distribution of the channel quality among nodes allows us to provide insight on the performance of networking protocols. As an example, we consider three routing policies, which we compare in terms of throughput, latency and link utilization. Results show that the policy that minimizes the number of hops is optimal in this scenario.