AquaOptical: A Lightweight Device for High-rate Long-range Underwater Point-to-Point Communication

Abstract

This paper describes AquaOptical, an underwater optical communication system. Three optical modems have been developed: a long range system, a short range system, and a hybrid system. We describe their hardware and software architectures and highlight trade-offs. We present pool and ocean experiments with each system. In clear water, AquaOptical achieved a data rate of 1.2Mbit/sec at distances up to 30m. In water with visibility estimated at 3m, AquaOptical achieved communication at data rates of 0.6Mbit/sec at distances up to 9m.

Using optical communication for remote underwater robot operation

“…We reported the first use of short-range optical communication for underwater networking in [11], [12] and discussed the details of our long range optical modem system in [13]. We presented the latest version of our underwater robot system and the human input device in [1].…”

“…1) Optical Modem: In [13], we presented previous versions of our optical modem. In this paper, we improve the long range optical modem system by upgrading the receiver to include an on-board convolutional decoder implemented in an FPGA.…”

Design of a visible light communication system for deep sea divers based on analogue frequency modulation

“…A number of high speed underwater VLC communication systems has been reported in [2], [6], [7]. Marek et al demonstrated 1.2 Mbps communication link which reaches a communication range of 30 m using external lenses [7]. More recently, a test result of 6.25 Mbps communication for the range of 2.5 m has been reported which utilizes Manchester coding techniques [2].…”

“…Some of the common scenarios where VLC can be used in the underwater environment are sensor networks, high speed communications for uploading data from a sensor node to an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), real time video transmission and divers communications. A number of high speed underwater VLC communication systems has been reported in [2], [6], [7]. Marek et al demonstrated 1.2 Mbps communication link which reaches a communication range of 30 m using external lenses [7].…”

An Underwater Wireless Sensor Network with Realistic Radio Frequency Path Loss Model

“…However, cable-based systems suffer from high cost of installation and frequent need of calibration and maintenance. Other solutions based on optical communications have also been proposed such as AquaOptical in [4] where several optical modems are developed for point-to-point communications underwater. However, the long-range modem is currently very expensive (it costs around US$1,200), and thus it is implausible to implement for large-scale networks.…”