AquaOptical: A lightweight device for high-rate long-range underwater point-to-point communication

Abstract

This article 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 1.2 Mbit/s at distances up to 30 m. In water with visibility estimated at 3 m, AquaOptical achieved communication at data rates of 0.6 Mbit/s at distances up to 9 m.