Green Underwater Communication Systems

Abstract

Underwater optics have received a lot of interest as a way to enable high-bandwidth applications like surveillance, climate monitoring, environmental monitoring, and disaster preventions. However, these applications require a large number of sensors. With the recent advancement in technology such as autonomous operated underwater vehicles (AOUVs) and remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROUVs), underwater wireless communication (UWC) has become a rapidly emerging field. Underwater optics provides not only high data rates but also consumes less energy, which makes UWC systems green. As most underwater equipment is powered by batteries, energy-efficient communication is essential for ensuring dependable underwater communications. Underwater optics, on the other hand, have a limited communication range due to the several underwater channel conditions, such as reflection, absorption, and fading. So, in this chapter we will discuss the features of a green underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) system along with the energy harvesting techniques that make the UOWC system green.