To address task-driven selection bias in historical deployment records, this study proposes a structural-causal-model-based framework for quantifying bias in the utility assessment and deployment-effect estimation of integrated underwater communication and positioning networks. Four datasets were constructed under unbiased, communication-dominant, positioning-dominant, and joint-biased sampling mechanisms, and double machine l...

Underwater sensor networks (UWSNs) play a crucial role in subsea operations like marine exploration and environmental monitoring. A major challenge for UWSNs is achieving effective and energy-efficient data collection, particularly in deep-sea mining, where energy limitations and long-term deployment are key concerns. This study introduces a Channel-Aware AUV-Aided Data Collection Scheme (CADC) that utilizes deep reinforcement...

The dynamic and heterogeneous nature of marine environments, combined with severely constrained communication and energy resources, presents distinct challenges in constructing underwater Communication, Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (CPNT) systems compared to terrestrial Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) architecture. To address the inherent limitations of conventional decoupled CPNT systems – including high cost...