Effect of convergent beam array on reducing scintillation in underwater wireless optical communications with pointing errors

Abstract

In this paper, we propose the convergent beam array to reduce scintillation induced by oceanic turbulence in underwater wireless optical communications (UWOCs) between misaligned transceivers. In the proposed convergent beam array, the propagation directions of beams are slanted inwards and different from each other. First, we present the convergent beam array system and analyze spatial relationships between the transmitter and the individual beam in beam array systems. Then, in order to simulate beams propagation in UWOCs, we review the power spectrum of refractive index fluctuations in oceanic turbulence and analyze the spatial relationship between the misaligned transceivers in view of pointing errors. Finally, we verify the effectiveness of the proposed convergent beam array on scintillation reduction by multistep wave optics simulation. Simulation results show that convergent beam array is able to decrease scintillation indices effectively in UWOCs with pointing errors.