Underwater Wireless Optical Communication Research Articles

Turbidity-tolerant underwater wireless optical communications using dense blue–green wavelength division multiplexing

Underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) has demonstrated high-speed and low-latency properties in clear and coastal ocean water because of the relatively low attenuation ‘window’ for blue–green wavelengths from 450 nm to 550 nm. However, there are different attenuation coefficients for transmission in ocean water at different wavelengths, and the light transmission more seriously deteriorates with fluctuations in the water turbidity. Therefore, traditional UWOC using a single wavelength or coarse blue–green wavelengths has difficulty tolerating variations in water turbidity. Dense wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology provides sufficient communication channels with a narrow wavelength spacing and minimal channel crosstalk. Here, we improve the UWOC in clear and coastal ocean water using dense blue–green WDM. A cost-effective WDM emitter is proposed with directly modulated blue–green laser diodes. Dense wavelength beam combination and collimation are demonstrated in a 20-metre underwater channel from 490 nm to 520 nm. Demultiplexing with a minimum channel spacing of 2 nm is realized by an optical grating. Remarkably, our WDM results demonstrate an aggregate data rate exceeding 10 Gbit/s under diverse water turbidity conditions, with negligible crosstalk observed for each channel. This is the densest WDM implementation with a record channel spacing of 2 nm and the highest channel count for underwater blue–green light communications, providing turbidity-tolerant signal transmission in clear and coastal ocean water.

Oceanic turbulence parameters recognition based on convolutional neural network

The distortion induced by ocean turbulence has a substantial impact on the propagation of light in water, posing challenges for applications including underwater wireless optical communications and submarine surveys. Obtaining accurate information about the properties of oceanic turbulence (OT), particularly the parameters describing OT, is crucial for addressing these challenges and enhancing the performance of such applications. In this paper, we propose a convolutional neural network (CNN) and validate its ability to recognize OT parameters. The physical quantities of oceanic turbulence collectively influence the formation and strength of turbulence. We recognize the dissipation rate of temperature variance χ T and the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate ɛ, taking into account various balance parameter ω, transmission distance z. Furthermore, in order to simultaneously recognize χ T and ɛ, we enhanced the existing network by modifying the output structure, resulting in a dual-output architecture that facilitates concurrent classification of both χ T and ɛ. Our method for classifying turbulence parameters will contribute to the field of underwater wireless optical communication and promote its further development.

Enhancing underwater wireless optical communication systems based on high‑sensitivity detection techniques

Enhancing underwater wireless optical communication systems based on high‑sensitivity detection techniques

Feasibility analysis of line of sight (LOS) underwater wireless optical communications (UWOCs) via link budget

Feasibility analysis of line of sight (LOS) underwater wireless optical communications (UWOCs) via link budget

Machine learning for signal demodulation in underwater wireless optical communications

Machine learning for signal demodulation in underwater wireless optical communications

Performance evaluation and comparative research of underwater wireless optical communication system by using different structured beams

Structured beams have attracted increasing interest in free-space and fiber-based optical communications. Underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) is becoming a prospective technique in marine exploration. We investigated UWOC performance using different representative structured beams. The transmission performances of the Gaussian, Bessel–Gaussian (BG), Ince–Gaussian (IG), and radially polarized Gaussian (RPG) beams were experimentally demonstrated and evaluated in underwater channels subjected to thermal gradient. The experimental results show that the BG, IG, and RPG perform better against the thermal gradient. Compared with the Gaussian beams, the beam wanders of BG, IG, and RPG beams under the thermal gradient have been reduced by 56.9%, 8.2%, and 59%, the scintillation indices have been decreased by 12.8%, 17.3%, and 28.9%, and the BER performance of the BG, IG, and RPG beams have been improved by ∼5.5, ∼3.7, and ∼5.2dB at the forward error correction threshold (FEC threshold). Based on the above results, the RPG beam is a more promising light source for UWOC. The experimental results provide a promising beam choice for UWOC.

Coverage Performance of Non-Lambertian Underwater Wireless Optical Communications for 6G Internet of Things

In medium- and short-range underwater application scenarios, thanks to the superior performance in transmission bandwidth, link latency, and security, underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) is growing to be a promising complement to the mature underwater acoustic communication technique. In order to extend the future 6G Internet of Things (IOT) to various challenging and valuable underwater scenarios, the underwater spatial coverage and transmission performance has been actively discussed in typical seawater environments. However, almost all current works focus on underwater scenarios including light-emitting diode (LED) transmitters with well-known Lambertian optical beams and fail to characterize the scenarios adopting LED transmitters with distinctive non-Lambertian beam patterns. For addressing this limitation, in this article, the coverage performance of non-Lambertian UWOC for 6G is analyzed and illustrated. Furthermore, the switchable optical beam configuration scheme is proposed and estimated for UWOC. Numerical results illustrate that, compared with about 15.42 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) fluctuation amplitude for UWOC with baseline Lambertian optical beam configuration, the corresponding SNR fluctuation amplitudes of UWOC based with two typical non-Lambertian optical beams are 8.71 dB and 24.60 dB. Furthermore, once the receiver depth is increased to 6.0 m, the SNR fluctuation amplitude for the above three UWOC coverage with distinct beam configuration could be reduced to 5.61 dB, 1.58 dB, and 10.33 dB, respectively.

Propagation of auto-focusing hypergeometric Gaussian beams along a slant path in oceanic turbulence

Compared to horizontal transmission, the oceanic dissipation rate and temperature-salinity distribution ratio are no longer constant but vary with depth, imposing greater complexity on oceanic turbulence when beams propagate through a slant path and resulting in more limitations on the performance of underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) links. This study focuses on investigating the performance, especially the auto-focusing characteristic, of auto-focusing hypergeometric Gaussian (AHGG) beams propagating along slant paths in oceanic turbulence. We theoretically derive the spatial coherence radius and the relative probability of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode for AHGG beams passing through such links. Numerical simulations reveal that AHGG beams exhibit superior propagation performance compared to hypergeometric Gaussian beams. Lower beam orders and OAM numbers contribute to improved performance, while careful selection of auto-focusing length can tangibly enhance detection performance as well. Additionally, tidal velocities and wind speeds have nonnegligible effects on OAM signal probability. Our results further demonstrate that surface buoyancy flux, temperature gradients, and waterside friction velocity significantly affect beam transmission under varying wind conditions. These findings, particularly controlling the auto-focusing length of AHGG beams to match the transmission distance, provide valuable insights for enhancing the quality of UWOC links.

108 m Underwater Wireless Optical Communication Using a 490 nm Blue VECSEL and an AOM.

Advanced light sources in the blue-green band are crucial for underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) systems. Vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs) can produce high output power and good beam quality, making them suitable for UWOC. This paper presents a 108 m distance UWOC based on a 100 mW 490 nm blue VECSEL and an acousto-optic modulator (AOM). The high-quality beam, which is near diffraction-limited, undergoes relatively small optical attenuation when using a conventional avalanche photodiode (APD) as the detector and employing 64-pulse position modulation (PPM). At the time-slot frequency of 50 MHz, the bit error rate (BER) of the UWOC was 2.7 × 10-5. This is the first reported AOM-based UWOC system with a transmission distance over 100 m. The estimated maximum transmission distance may be improved to about 180 m by fully utilizing the detection accuracy of the APD according to the measured attenuation coefficient of the blue VECSEL used. This type of UWOC system, composed of a high-beam-quality light source and a conventional detector, make it more closely suited to practical applications.

Effect of turbulence-induced sediment resuspension and sedimentation on underwater wireless optical communication

In real-life marine environments, the composition and grain size of suspended sediments and the resuspension and sedimentation of sediments caused by turbulence may have a significant impact on underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC). However, to date, researchers have not conducted quantitative research on this issue. To this end, we innovatively study the effects of different compositions and grain sizes of suspended sediments on UWOC and the effects of turbulence-induced sediment resuspension and sedimentation on UWOC in this paper. Quartz and kaolin with different grain sizes are used to simulate sediments in seawater. An oscillating grid that can vary frequency and stroke is used to generate turbulence of different intensities. By comparing the turbidity and optical power density of different simulated sediments with different grain sizes, we find that the smaller the grain size of the simulated sediments, the higher the bit error rate (BER) under the same turbidity. But different simulated sediments with different grain sizes have similar effects on BER performance under the same optical power density. Therefore, turbidity can be used to characterize the changes of underwater channels, and optical power density can be used to evaluate the attenuation of light at the receiving end after transmission through the underwater channel. By continuously changing the frequency of the grid to cause the sediments to resuspend and sink, we prove that the process of turbulence-induced sediment resuspension and sedimentation can seriously affect the BER performance. The larger the frequency of the grid, the greater the turbulence intensity and the worse the BER performance. This study lays a foundation for the practical application of UWOC in mobile ocean observation networks.

Experimental investigation on backscattering interference cancellation for full-duplex UOWC based on time-reversal preprocessing

A co-frequency and full-duplex (FD) underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) system has the potential to significantly enhance spectral efficiency, reduce complexity, and further facilitate UOWC networking. However, the inevitable performance degradation due to self-interference introduced by backscattering presents a significant challenge. In this paper, we first experimentally explore the inherent characteristics of the underwater backscattering channel. Subsequently, we propose a digital-domain backscattering interference cancellation (BIC) algorithm for FD-UOWC systems, incorporating a time-reversal preprocessing. We then experimentally investigate the communication performance of an FD-UOWC system to verify the feasibility of the proposed BIC algorithm under different channel conditions. The experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, yielding substantial enhancements in bit error rate performance across diverse scenarios.

High-Efficiency 4 × 4 × 10 Gbps Orbital Angular Momentum Modes Incorporated into Satellite–Ground–Underwater Optical Wireless System under Diverse Turbulences

With their unique capability to deal with a considerable geographic area, satellite–ground–underwater optical wireless communication (OWC) systems are an appealing alternative to meet the ever-increasing demand for end-to-end broadband services. Using four different Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) modes, an orbital angular momentum (OAM) multiplexing method was developed to enhance the spectral efficiency and system capacity of the satellite–ground–underwater OWC system. At an aggregate throughput of 160 Gbps, LG[0,0], LG[0,2], LG[0,4], and LG[0,8] were realized. Various atmospheric conditions, water types, and scintillation effects were used to evaluate the performance of two separate OWC links for satellite-to-ground and ground-to-underwater communication. A maximum OWC range of 21,500–30,000 km has been obtained under weak-to-strong turbulence for satellite-to-ground scenarios, and a range of 12–27 m underwater for ground-to-underwater scenarios under various scintillation effects. At LG[0,0], in pure sea, the maximum gain is −75.02 dB, the noise figure is 75.02 dB, the output signal is −78.32 dBm, and the signal-to-noise ratio is 21.67 dB. In comparison with other works in the literature, this system shows a superior performance.

A metasurface-based full-color circular auto-focusing Airy beam transmitter for stable high-speed underwater wireless optical communications

Due to its unique intensity distribution, self-acceleration, and beam self-healing properties, Airy beam holds great potential for optical wireless communications in challenging channels, such as underwater environments. As a vital part of 6G wireless network, the Internet of Underwater Things requires high-stability, low-latency, and high-capacity underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC). Currently, the primary challenge of UWOC lies in the prevalent time-varying and complex channel characteristics. Conventional blue Gaussian beam-based systems face difficulties in underwater randomly perturbed links. In this work, we report a full-color circular auto-focusing Airy beams metasurface transmitter for reliable, large-capacity and long-distance UWOC links. The metasurface is designed to exhibits high polarization conversion efficiency over a wide band (440-640 nm), enabling an increased data transmission rate of 91% and reliable 4 K video transmission in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) based UWOC data link. The successful application of this metasurface in challenging UWOC links establishes a foundation for underwater interconnection scenarios in 6G communication.

Influence of the parameters of the aquatic environment on the functioning of wireless channels optical underwater communication in information and measurement systems

The main challenge in creating underwater Internet of Things (UIoT) applications is to select the appropriate type of communication system, which must take into account the unique conditions of the underwater environment and data transmission requirements. Unlike terrestrial systems, where RF channels are widely used, underwater conditions require other solutions, as radio waves are significantly attenuated in the water, severely limiting the transmission range. A specific and little-studied aspect of underwater communications is the use of Underwater Wireless Optical Communications (UWOC). This paper focuses on investigating the effect of the characteristics of the aquatic environment on UWOC performance. The purpose of the study was to identify the relationship between the parameters of the aquatic environment and the UWOC channel in the interest of predicting the effectiveness of its application as part of UIoT networks, to substantiate the feasibility and prospects of using underwater optical wireless communications as part of distributed information and measurement systems. The paper presents the results of research on the relationship between the parameters of the aquatic environment and the underwater optical wireless communication channel. The interrelation of optical characteristics of the aquatic environment with the indicators of efficiency and quality of underwater optical wireless communication: normalised power, communication range, bit error rate, in turn, affecting the accuracy and reliability of the information received by the Consumer at the output of the information-measuring system. The influence of water medium turbulence on the communication indicators is assessed. It is shown that changes in the salinity of the aquatic environment as one of the factors causing turbulence negatively affects the main indicators of underwater optical wireless communication. It is shown that the assessment of the feasibility of underwater optical wireless communication should be made on the basis of a detailed analysis of the parameters of the aquatic environment of the water area in which its implementation is planned. The obtained results confirm the possibility and perspectivity of using underwater optical wireless communication as a part of distributed information-measuring systems on underwater objects located in different types of water areas.

Single Photon Detection Technology in Underwater Wireless Optical Communication: Modulation Modes and Error Correction Coding Analysis

Single Photon Detection Technology in Underwater Wireless Optical Communication: Modulation Modes and Error Correction Coding Analysis

On the Physical Layer Security of Underwater Optical Wireless Communication Networks

On the Physical Layer Security of Underwater Optical Wireless Communication Networks

UOWC Integration with ROVs: A Fiber-Optic Approach for Enhanced Underwater Exploration

Underwater Optical Wireless Communication (UOWC) revolutionizes underwater exploration, leveraging seawater's unique property—reduced absorption of blue-green light. This offers superior advantages over traditional communication methods, providing higher bandwidth and lower latency. This paper explores the integration of UOWC with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), enhancing data exchange and command capabilities in challenging underwater environments. Seawater's unique properties empower UOWC to outperform acoustic and RF methods, crucial for real-time applications. The study utilizes advanced techniques like Fiber-Optic Communication, High Order Sliding Mode Control, and Hybrid Blockage Detection for ROV integration and control. While the abstract focuses on theory and design, it sets the stage for empirical validations, emphasizing the need for future research to quantify improvements in real-world underwater scenarios

수중 광(光)무선통신 기술 적용 ROV형 수중드론 디자인 연구

This study aims to conduct a design research on underwater drones differentiated from existing ROV-type underwater drones by applying underwater optical wireless communication technology without cables. Since 2018, there has been a positive change in the increasing interest in general marine leisure products in South Korea. Based on theoretical considerations and case analyses, this study identified problems, conducted FGI (Focus Group Interviews), and derived design research directions reflecting technological, functional, and formal elements. Subsequently, design improvements were made in two stages, inspired by marine creatures such as stingrays. Based on this, a survey was conducted to validate the design's aesthetics, usability, stability, and effectiveness. Through this research, it was confirmed that prioritizing functional elements in design had certain limitations, indicating the need for future improvements. It is expected that this study will serve as practical data for enhancing the functional aspects and creative utilization of underwater drones applying optical communication technology in the future.

Performance analysis of relay-aided underwater wireless optical communication with wavelength diversity under anisotropic ocean turbulence

Performance analysis of relay-aided underwater wireless optical communication with wavelength diversity under anisotropic ocean turbulence

Half-spectrum OFDM to quadruple the spectral efficiency of underwater wireless optical communication with digital power division multiplexing.

Improving the spectrum efficiency (SE) is an effective method to further enhance the data rate of bandwidth-limited underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) systems. Non-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (NOFDM) with a compression factor of 0.5 can save half of the bandwidth without introducing any inter-carrier-interference (ICI) only if the total number of subcarriers is large enough, and we termed it as half-spectrum OFDM (HS-OFDM). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported work on a closed-form HS-OFDM signal in the discrete domain from the perspective of a correlation matrix. Due to the special mathematical property, no extra complex decoding algorithm is required at the HS-OFDM receiver, making it as simple as the conventional OFDM receiver. Compared with traditional OFDM, HS-OFDM can realize the same data rate, but with a larger signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) margin. To fully use the SNR resource of the communication system, we further propose a digital power division multiplexed HS-OFDM (DPDM-HS-OFDM) scheme to quadruple the SE of conventional OFDM for the bandwidth-starved UWOCs. The experimental results show that HS-OFDM can improve the receiver sensitivity by around 4dB as opposed to conventional 4QAM-OFDM with the same data rate and SE. With the help of the DPDM-HS-OFDM scheme, the data rate of multi-user UWOC can reach up to 4.5Gbps under the hard-decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) limit of a bit error rate (BER) of 3.8×10-3. Although there is some performance degradation in comparison with single-user HS-OFDM, the BER performance of multi-user DPDM-HS-OFDM is still superior to that of conventional single-user 4QAM-OFDM. Both single-user HS-OFDM and multi-user DPDM-HS-OFDM successfully achieve 2Gbps/75m data transmission, indicating that the DPDM-HS-OFDM scheme is of great importance in bandwidth-limited UWOC systems and has guiding significance to underwater wireless optical multiple access.