Low-cost medium-range optical underwater modem

Abstract

Enhancing underwater instruments with networking capabilities is opening up exciting new opportunities for remote ocean exploration. Underwater communication is essential in enabling networking, and in this work, we focus specifically on those applications that require a communication range of 5 to 10 meters. We will show that optical wireless technology is an excellent candidate when cost-efficient design is paramount and data rate requirements are modest. Our optical modem uses inexpensive components, and compensates by employing sophisticated detection algorithms. Our design is validated experimentally, establishing it as a viable cost-effective communication technology for low range underwater applications.