Title: T6 Underwater Optical Communications.
Presenters: Prof John F Muth and Dr Brandon Cochenour, North Caroline State University, Naval Air Warfare centre.
Duration: 1/2 day in the afternoon (13:00 to 16:30).
Description: The underwater environment is challenging for all modes of communications with distinct trade-off between range and data rate. Acoustics provide a long operational range (km’s), provide relatively low data rates (<Kbps). This is especially true in shallow water where the acoustic signal can be limited by multipath interference and noise. Optical communications underwater can provide higher bandwidths (>Mbps) but will typically be limited in range (< 200m), with both range and data rate being closely dependent on the optical properties of the ocean environment. This tutorial will be focused on the practical concerns of building and implementing optical communications systems and performance expectations when applied to underwater vehicles, robots and subsea factories. Recent technical advances will be reviewed. The participant will obtain a basic understanding of how to construct and evaluate an underwater optical communication system.
Target Audience: The tutorial is targeted to a broad audience of Ocean Engineers with interests in ocean exploration, ocean sensing, unmanned and autonomous vehicles, and communication systems and networks. The technical level will be suitable for a multidisciplinary audience with the emphasis on practical engineering problem connected to implementing simple underwater optical communication system. Examples and results of student work from the undergraduate to the PhD level will be used to illustrate principles. The participant should obtain a basic understanding of how to construct and evaluate an underwater optical communication system.
