UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
FOCUS AREA: COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING
BSC PROGRAM THESIS

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF WIRELESS UNDERWATER

OPTICAL COMMUNICATION
MEMBERS OF THE GROUP

NAME ID NO.

1. ADERAJEW BIKIS…………………………….00086/09
2. ASINAKE DEBAS...…….………………....…...00185/09
3. HABTE BZUAYEHU………………………......00558/09
4. WONDWOSEN DEMISSE……………....….….01179/09

ADVISOR: MR. TSEGAYE M.

A final year thesis report submitted to Electrical and Computer Engineering department,
Institute of Technology, University of Gondar in the partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering
(Communication Engineering Focus area)

July,2013 E.C.
Gondar, Ethiopia
 Approval by Committee

The undersigned certify that the above candidate/s has fulfilled the condition of the thesis
paper in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of BSc in Electrical and
Computer Engineering (Communication Engineering Focus area)

__________________ ___________

Examiner Signature Date

__________________ ___________

Examiner Signature Date

________________ _____________

Advisor/Supervisor Signature Date

__________________ ___________

Dept. Head Signature Date

Declaration

We, the undersigned, declare that this thesis, “Design and Analysis of Wireless
Underwater Optical Communication”, is our own work, and has not been presented for in
any other place, and all sources of materials used for the thesis have been fully
acknowledged.

Name of the candidates Signature

1. _________________ ___________________
2. _________________ ___________________
3. _________________ ___________________
4. _________________ ___________________

Place: Gondar

Date of Submission: ________________

This thesis has been submitted for examination with my approval as a university advisor.

Name of the Advisor ________________

Advisor’s Name Signature

 Acknowledgment

Firstly, we would like to thanks God the All Mighty, All Sovereign and All Supreme for
everything to finish our thesis. Secondly our special appreciation and thanks goes to our
supervisor, Mr. Tsegaya.M. for his priceless supervision and various advice for always
being available whenever we require his guidance as well as for motivating us throughout
the thesis work on how to complete this thesis. Finally, we would give our grateful thanks
to all our friends and classmate for being with us and their idea shares until the last point
of this paper.

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 Abstract

The simulation and implementation of underwater optical communication system is

presented. The system consists of transmitter, water channel, and receiver. Wireless
optical communication can be presented as an alternative to acoustic modems for scenarios
where high speed, moderate distances, lower power and less complex communication
systems are desired. In this thesis, wireless optical communication for the underwater
criteria is designed and analyzed. Total internal reflection from the surface and attenuation
due to bubbles is a major problem for communications both below and above the water.
For the system the design challenges included: communication type, optical transmitter,
bubbles effect, optical receiver, link budget and electronics requirements and optical
wavelength. The simulation and implementation is done by using MATLAB with different
parameter that affect underwater wireless optical communication. The effect of strong
background light was solved using an optical filter on the receiver. The focus of our thesis
is to construct light emitting diode-based links at low cost with faster data rate of 1 Mbps,
wirelessly under the water.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgment ................................................................................................................. i
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii
List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... v
List of Tables...................................................................................................................... vi
List of Acronyms .............................................................................................................. vii
Chapter One ........................................................................................................................ 2
1. Introduction and Background.......................................................................................... 2

1.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 2

1.2. Significance of UWOC Communication ................................................................. 3

1.3. Statement Problem ................................................................................................... 4

1.4. General objective. .................................................................................................... 5

1.4.1. Specific objectives ............................................................................................ 5

1.5. Scope of the Thesis .................................................................................................. 5

1.5. Methodology ............................................................................................................ 6

1.7. Organization of the Report ....................................................................................... 7

Chapter Two ........................................................................................................................ 8

2. Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 8

2.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 8

Chapter Three .................................................................................................................... 12

3. System Model Design and Analysis ............................................................................. 12

3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 12

3.2. System Model Design ............................................................................................ 12

3.2.1. Modulation ...................................................................................................... 13

3.2.2. Transmitter ...................................................................................................... 13

3.2.3. Water Channel ................................................................................................. 13

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 3.2.4. Receiver........................................................................................................... 13

3.2.5. Demodulation .................................................................................................. 13

3.3. System Model Analysis ......................................................................................... 14

3.3.1. Electromagnetic Waves ................................................................................... 14

3.3.1 Boundary Reflections ....................................................................................... 14

3.3.4. Snell’s Law ..................................................................................................... 16

3.3.5. The effect of air bubble on the optical strength .............................................. 16

3.3.6. Total Internal Reflection (TIR) ....................................................................... 17

3.3.7. Inverse Square Law ......................................................................................... 17

3.3.8. Light Sources .................................................................................................. 18

3.3.9. Optical Wavelength......................................................................................... 19

3.3.10. Optical Receiver ............................................................................................ 20

3.3.11. Link Budget Calculations.............................................................................. 21

Chapter Four ..................................................................................................................... 27

4. Simulation Result and Discussion................................................................................. 27

4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 27

4.2. Simulation Parameters ........................................................................................... 27

4.4. Discussion and conclusion ..................................................................................... 38

Chapter 5 ........................................................................................................................... 40
5. Conclusion and Recommendations ............................................................................... 40

5.1. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 40

5.2. Recommendation for the future ............................................................................. 40

Reference........................................................................................................................... 41
Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 43

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 List of Figures

Figure 1.1: Methodology Block Diagram .......................................................................... 6

Figure 3.1: Block Diagram of Underwater Communication System ................................ 12
Figure 3.2: Block Diagram of Underwater Communication System ................................ 17
Figure 3.3: Relative response of the adjusted human eye versus wavelength. ................. 19
Figure 3.4: Internal Structure of the OPT101. .................................................................. 21
Figure 3.5: Designing Consideration of Under Water Optical Wireless Link .................. 22
Figure 3.6: The LOS and NLOS Path (Reflected Link) for UOWC system..................... 23
Figure 4.1: LOS Received Power Versus Distance d LOS ............................................... 29
Figure 4.2: LOS Received Power Density Versus Distance d LOS ................................. 30
Figure 4.3: Received Power Versus Distance Without the Effect of Air Bubble ............. 31
Figure 4.4: Received Power Density Versus Distance Without the Effect of Air Bubble 32
Figure 4.5: LOS Received Power Versus the Transmitter Pointing Angle....................... 33
Figure 4.6: Power Density Versus the Transmitter Pointing Angle.................................. 34
Figure 4.7: Received Power Versus the Pointing Angle Without the Effect of Bubbles . 35
Figure 4.8: Received Power Density Vs Pointing Angle Without the Effect Bubble. ...... 36
Figure 4.9: Total Received Power Vs Pointing Angle Without the Effect of Bubbles ..... 37
Figure 4.10: The Normalized Gain as A Function of Wavelength for Pool Water .......... 37
Figure 4.11: Normalized Optical Gain as A Function of Wavelength for Pure Water ..... 38

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 List of Tables

Table 3.1: Comparison Between Different Photo Detectors ............................................. 20

Table 4.1: Simulation Parameters for the Optical Wireless System ................................. 28

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 List of Acronyms

AUV Autonomies Under Water Vehicle

AUV Automatic Underwater Vehicle
DCM Deep Chlorophyll Maximum
DSS Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
EM Electromagnetic
FHSS Frequency Hopped Spread Spectrum
FPPM and PPM Frequency and Pulse Position Modulation
FSK Frequency Shift Keying
FSO Free Space Optics
IR Infrared
LD Laser Diode
LED Light Emitting Diode
LOS Line of Sight
MFSK Multiple Frequency Shift Keying
NLOS Non-Line of Sight
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
OOK On Off Keying
PSK Phase Shift Keying
RF Radio Frequency
ROV Remotely Operated Vehicle
ROVs Remotely Operated Vehicles
Rx Receiver

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Design and Analysis of Wireless Underwater Optical Communication 2013 E.C

TIR Total Internal Reflection

Tx Transmitter
UAC Under Water Acoustic Communication
UOWC Underwater Optical Wireless Communication
UV Ultra Violet
UVC Ultraviolet Communication
VLC Visible Light Communication

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Design and Analysis of Wireless Underwater Optical Communication 2013 E.C

Chapter One

1. Introduction and Background

1.1. Introduction
More than 70% of our planet is covered by water. its widely believed that underwater
world holds ideas and resource that will fuel much of next generation of since business.
since human are limited by in their ability to work under water ROVs (remotely operated
vehicles) and AUVs (Automatic Under water vehicles) [1].

Wireless underwater communication is a challenging task. Most commonly used methods,

which are well established for digital communication in air, do not work in water.
Conventionally, underwater communications are achieved using an acoustic method.
Acoustic communication is the most versatile and widely used technique in underwater
environments due to the low attenuation of sound in water. This is especially true in
thermally stable, deep-water settings. On the other hand, the use of acoustic waves in
shallow water can be adversely affected by temperature gradients, surface ambient noise,
and multipath propagation due to reflection and refraction. The much slower speed of
acoustic propagation in water, about 1500 m/s, compared with that of electromagnetic and
optical waves, is another limiting factor for efficient communication and networking.
Available radio modules operate in the GHz range, the attenuation in water for high
frequency radio, especially in electrically more conductive salt water, is extremely high.
A way around this is using ultra low frequency long wave radio, for which the attenuation
is manageable, but the maximum bandwidth is significantly limited [2].

Optical communication systems can have shorter ranges because of greater attenuation of
light propagating through water, they may provide higher bandwidth (up to several
hundred Kbps) communications as well as covertness. The development of high brightness
blue LED sources, and laser diodes suggest that high speed optical links can be viable for
short-range application. In this thesis, we review the physical fundamentals and
engineering implementation for efficient underwater communication via optical waves.

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Underwater systems have severe power, and size constraints compared to land or air-based
systems.

In recent years, underwater wireless optical communications (UWOC) have attracted

considerable attention as an alternative technology to traditional acoustic approach. As a
special type of free space optical (FSO) communications, UWOC systems employ the
blue/green region of visible light spectrum to realize data transmission since this region of
light suffers lowest attenuation in natural water. Due to these advantages, UWOC has
numerous applications such as real-time video communications, remote sensing and
navigation, imaging as well as high throughput sensor network. The absorption and
scattering may introduce the effects of energy loss and direction changing for the optical
beams, respectively. In turbid medium especially coastal and harbor water, the transmitted
photons are scattered multiple times, which is referred to as multiple scattering [3].

Implementing underwater optical link is dependent on the characteristic of ocean water.

For underwater communication process, we have to take care about different condition
that is associated in water. Also, in under–water wireless optical communication recently
modulation techniques are used for improvement of efficiency thus it can be useful for
different conditions [4].

1.2. Significance of UWOC Communication

The importance of underwater wireless optical communication has grown recently for
applications of underwater observation and sea monitoring systems. This communication
technology is expected to play a prominent role in investigating climate changes,
prediction of natural disasters, and discovery of natural resources, marine biology in lake,
sea and ocean environments. Underwater wireless information transfer is of great interest
to the military, industry, and the scientific community, as it plays an important role in
tactical surveillance, pollution monitoring, oil control and maintenance, offshore
explorations, climate change monitoring, and oceanography research. Underwater optical
wireless communication (UOWC), as it provides higher data rates than the traditional
acoustic communication systems with significantly lower power consumption and simpler
computational complexities for short-range wireless links.

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Design and Analysis of Wireless Underwater Optical Communication 2013 E.C

UOWC has many potential applications ranging from deep oceans to coastal waters.
Acoustic technology is mostly used for establishing wireless communication link among
divers and ships, or sending long range remote signals. Sound waves travel through water
faster than in air, receiving very little attenuation. Due to frequency attenuation
characteristic of acoustic waves in water, it is difficult to expand its bandwidth. Acoustic
approach cannot achieve high data rate, and also portable communication devices are
difficult to be designed at lower cost. So, the best option is to go for an underwater optical
wireless communication system.

1.3. Statement Problem

As analyzed by underwater communications are traditionally made with a physical
connector, made by cables or fiber-optics. These represent some advantages since they are
capable of transport electrical power and offer a high speed and reliable communication.
However, their use can limit the range and maneuverability of underwater operations, and
the presence of a long and heavy cable and the associated hydrodynamic drag, increases
the risks of an operation.

For these reasons, there is a high interest on the investigation of alternative ways to
transmit information underwater, without been dependent on a cable connection. Next it
is presented the most common methods of underwater wireless communication, referring
their advantages but also the problems that they face. Total internal reflection from the
surface and attenuation due to bubbles is a major problem for communications both below
and above the water. A wireless link is desirable in many situations although fiber optic
or copper cablings are used for bulky and immobile devices. Free space optical
communication is considered as a promising alternative as it overcomes low data rates,
high latencies and multipath issues offered by prevailing acoustic communications.

The main statement problem of our thesis is how to solve and improve the communication
between researchers, swimmers, underwater accidental worker, divers with in underwater.

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Design and Analysis of Wireless Underwater Optical Communication 2013 E.C

1.4. Objectives of the Study

1.4.1 General Objective

To design, implement and analyze the performance of underwater wireless optical

communication system.

1.4.1. Specific Objectives

❖ To simulate received power and power density versus distance with and without the
effect of air bubbles in the line of site (LOS) path.
❖ To compare Super flux and RL5-G13008 LED with and without the effect of air
bubbles in the line of site (LOS).
❖ To simulate received power and power density versus distance in super flux LED
without the effect of air bubbles in the none line of site (NLOS) path.
❖ To simulate received power and power density versus the transmitter pointing angle
with and without the effect of air bubbles in the line of site (LOS) path.
❖ To compare Super flux and RL5-G13008 LED with and without the effect of air
bubbles in the none line of site (NLOS).
❖ To simulate received power and power density versus the transmitter pointing angle
with and without the effect of air bubbles in the none line of site (LOS) path.
❖ To compare Super flux and RL5-G13008 LED without the effect of air bubbles in
the none line of site (LOS).
❖ The normalized optical gain as a function of wavelength for an optical link in pure
and pool water including LED efficiency, water attenuation and photodiode
efficiency.

1.5. Scope of the Thesis

The scope of this thesis is to determine the performance of UOWC system for variety of
underwater environments and develop a realistic system design model for underwater
optical receiver and transmitter and study total internal reflection from the surface and
attenuation due to bubbles. The pretended approach to this work is to develop and
implement an underwater communication. Wireless optical communication can be

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presented as an alternative to acoustic modems for scenarios where high speed, moderate
distances, lower power and less complex communication systems are desired. Wireless
communication is much more feasible solution to the problem of communicating with
vehicles. In this thesis, wireless optical communication for the underwater criteria is
designed and analyzed up to 5m.

1.5. Methodology
We use simulation software to simulate under water optical wireless communication and
Our methods of work are organized and accomplished through a sequence of stages.

Selection and Literature Review

Selection
Formulation and Reference
of Title
Statement Problem Collection

Mathematical Model and

System Design Include
Block Diagram Of
UWOC

Developing MATLAB
Code Depending on Our
Mathematical

Conclusion Result and Discussion Simulation

Figure 1.1: Methodology Block Diagram

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Design and Analysis of Wireless Underwater Optical Communication 2013 E.C

1.7. Organization of the Report

This thesis is focused on the design and analysis of wireless underwater optical
communication. This first chapter presents a general introduction. chapter two gives a
review of literature published before this thesis. In chapter three, system model design and
analysis is explained including underwater link budget calculations and all the aspects
related to the underwater optical wireless communications. Simulation result and
discussion are calculating the link budget and the selection of suitable components are
presented in chapter four for different light sources. Finally, conclusion and
recommendation for the future depend on our work.

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Design and Analysis of Wireless Underwater Optical Communication 2013 E.C

Chapter Two

2. Literature Review

2.1. Introduction
In this chapter we should write a wide description of our thesis compared to other project
and research related to our topic and we focus what our thesis includes compared other.
So many research and project had done related to under water optical communication. Lot
of literature is available for the advancement of underwater acoustic communication but
very less work is available for UOWC. Our literature review is divided into the following
sections

❖ Free Space Optics (FSO).

❖ Underwater Optical Wireless Communication (UOWC).
❖ Laser Communication.
❖ LED Communication.
❖ Modulation Techniques.

Mahdy and Deogun in 2004 Wireless Communications and Networking Conference

conducted a survey about wireless optical communications for indoor short distance and
outdoor long and short distance applications considering three issues in any optical
wireless system: design, performance and safety. They concluded that the flexibility,
mobility and costs are the main reasons to change from optical fiber to wireless. In
addition, the lower cost of an optical wireless network installation makes it easy to build
static and dynamic networks [5] .

Henniker and Wilbert [6] in 2010 give Introduction to Free-space Optical

Communications," Radio. Gave an overview about the parameters that the designer should
consider in outdoor applications based on using free space optical communication system
for mobile and long-range applications. A laser was used because of its ability to provide
a narrow beam, high data rate and can be used in a mobile system because of the size and
the weight. A link budget calculation for FSO was outlined; all the losses and gains along

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the path from the transmitter to the receiver in this system were considered. A number of
new methods such as using a hybrid FSO/RF system to increase the link availability were
suggested to overcome atmospheric attenuation [6] .

Liu and Ge in 2006 reported an underwater sensor network for undersea exploration
applications dependent on a blue-green laser for long range communications as an
alternative to an acoustic sensor network because of the high delay, limited bandwidth,
high bit error rate and high energy consumption of acoustic systems. Laser wavelengths
in the range 470-570 nm with a diffused beam was used in the sea water. The architecture
of the laser node and protocol stacks for the underwater laser sensor network was
discussed. A comparison between laser underwater sensors networks and acoustic
networks revealed that a light-based network was more robust [7].

Fung et al. in 2009 suggested a short range optical wireless communication for a swarm
of robots in an underwater environment. A 50-mW laser was used to achieve 110 kbps for
a range of up to 3 m in underwater using green light at a wavelength of 532 nm. The
transmitter was a 50-mW green laser and the receiver was a Si photodiode Hamamatsu
S1226-8Bk. Experiments were performed in air, in fresh and seawater. The attenuation
was -6 dB at 1m distance between the transmitter and the receiver in fresh water and -25
dB in sea water. To test the transfer rate of the communication channel, the transmitter
and the receiver were connected directly to the serial port of a PC. The data was sent
continuously for more than 30 min with no errors. A multi-channel system was used
(instead of point-to-point) in order to improve the communication efficiency. The circuit
was tested in a swimming pool and achieved a communication link up to 15 m without
loss of data [8].

Baiden et al. [9] in 2009 presented a point-to-point optical communication system using a
green and blue laser. Two 1013c1 high-bandwidth underwater transceivers with 10 Mbps
full duplex communication and two PCs at the transmitter and the receiver were used. The
receiver was a photo multiplier tube. The circuit was tested by changing the distance
between the transmitter and the receiver in a pool and in a tank filled with lake water. The
results showed the effects of the turbidity level, viewing angle and the distance between
the transmitter and the receiver on the received optical signal [9].

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Liu et al. 2007 discussed a high data rate underwater optical wireless communication
system. A simple analytical method based on using Pspice simulator was used to evaluate
the underwater optical link and bit error rate by using light emitting diodes (LEDs) with
the effect of absorption and scattering in realistic ocean water. Superflux LEDs were used
as a transmitter system. The blue LED HPWN-MB00-00000 and the green LED HPWN-
MG00-00000 were used. The receiver circuit included photodiodes, amplifier and
equalizer. The photodiodes were G5645 with a peak wavelength of λp =470 nm and
S5627-01 with λp =540nm. The maximum distance with an acceptable bit error rate (BER)
of approximately 10 ^-6 was around 20 m for pure water and 3.5 m for a coastal ocean.
The simulation results showed that the wavelength and beam parameters were the most
important factors for underwater optical communication [10].

Anguita et al.in 2009 developed a point-to-point optical wireless transceiver system based
on a blue LED as transmitter and a photodiode as a receiver on the same board to use it in
an underwater wireless sensor network (UWSN) for node communication. The optical
physical layer was investigated based on the physical layer of the IEEE 802.11 IR PHY.
An experiment in a 2 m length tank was conducted using two PCs each one was connected
to a board with the optical transceiver. A transmission distance of 1.8 m at 100 kbps with
a light impulse of 5 ms achieved [11].

Shuo Gao in 2015 reported the advantages and limitations for different modulation
techniques for underwater communication based on modelling and simulation. Intensity
modulation and direct detection have been used in the underwater environment. By
changing the pulse rate, width and frequency different modulation techniques can be
achieved. The detection techniques are usually classified into two types: (a) Non-coherent
detection methods depend on the presence or absence of a signal and there is no
information about the phase. Techniques include amplitude shift keying (ASK), on-off
keying (OOK) and (PPM). (b) Coherent detection such as frequency shift keying (FSK)
and Phase shift keying (PSK). It has been proven that the PPM is better for low power
underwater applications while, PSK gives good performances in terms of bandwidth, error
performance but with poor power efficiency. In addition, OOK and PPM are usually used
in a simple direct detection system with lower complexity while FSK and PSK are used
with high complexity. An evaluation of signal to noise ratio, error probability

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performance, data rate and power was investigated for underwater optical wireless
communication system based on an LED as a transmitter and a photodiode S5493-01 as a
receiver for different wavelength (660 nm, 530 nm, 505 nm, 470nm). The comparison
between different modulation methods was based on the maximum transfer rate, transmit
power and modulation complexity.

Shuo Gao in 2015 reported a modified PPM transceiver system called shorten pulse
position modulation (SPPM) for image transmission based on using underwater optical
wireless communication. The 4-PPM represents each 2 bits of the information signal by 4
bits while the modified PPM represents it by 3 bits. Simulation results of anti-noise
performance, bandwidth and transmission power were presented and compared. The
results showed that the modified PPM has the same performance of the PPM relating to
the error controlling. However, the modified PPM improved the bandwidth utilization.
[12].

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Chapter Three

3. System Model Design and Analysis

3.1. Introduction
The focus of the thesis is to design, implement and test a system to give a real time UOWC.
The system should perform well in air and in water. The proposed system is based on an
optical wireless communication using LED transmitter and a photodiode receiver. This
presents the theory aspects related to the link budget calculations used to choose the
components for this system. The criteria for choosing the components and the different
types of noise that affect the optical signal are explained. The impact of air bubbles and
total internal reflection (TIR) on the optical link is presented. Some basic aspects related
to the reflection, refraction and scattering of the optical signal is presented because it is
important in the simulations and the system design reported in Chapter four.

3.2. System Model Design

Information LED
Modulator
Source Transmitter

Water
Channel

Information Demodulated Photodetector

Sink Signal Receiver

Figure 3.1: Block Diagram of Underwater Communication System

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Design and Analysis of Wireless Underwater Optical Communication 2013 E.C

3.2.1. Modulation

Modulation in a communication system is the process of altering the carrier wave in order
to represent the desired data. In the case of UOWC, the modulation scheme determines
how the light signal is changed based on the transmitted data.

3.2.2. Transmitter

In a UOWC system, the role of the transmitter is to convert a binary signal into a
modulated optical signal that can be transmitted through water. An optical light source is
characterized by viewing angle, wavelength, luminous intensity and current. A LED
(Light Emitting Diode) was chosen because it radiates over a wide-angle range. This is
important because of the movement of the transmitter and receiver. The LED converts an
electrical signal to an optical signal and has a relatively low luminous intensity, (less
hazardous compared to a laser source) and can be used for indoor and outdoor short
distance applications.

3.2.3. Water Channel

Between the transmitter and the receiver, the channel is water and there is imaginary pass
between transmitter and receiver. the pass is line of site (LOS) or none line of site (NLOS).

3.2.4. Receiver

In a UOWC system, the role of the receiver is to convert the received optical signal into a
usable voltage for processing. Photodiode is the receiver used in UOWC. A photodiode
converts an optical signal to an electrical signal or current. The factors taken into account
for choosing a suitable photodiode include responsivity, spectral response, rise time,
dynamic range, size, simplicity and supply voltage.

3.2.5. Demodulation

Demodulation is getting the original form of data modulated carrier wave.

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3.3. System Model Analysis

3.3.1. Electromagnetic Waves

Light consists of magnetic field and electrical field which oscillate at very high frequency
(order of 1014 Hz). In free space these waves travel at the speed of light c (𝑐 = 3 𝑥 108
mpers). The speed in a medium v depends on the refractive index of this medium n which
is different for each material. Equation (3.1) shows the relationship between v and n [13].
𝐜
𝐯 = ……………….………………………………………… (3.1)
𝐧

The wavelength in most media is shorter than in air because the refractive index is greater
than 1 (e.g.,1.33 in water). The light intensity describes the power in a wave and is
proportional to irradiance. The intensity unit is watts per square meter.

3.3.1 Boundary Reflections

The amount of light reflected from the water-air interface is important from the path loss
perceptive and this is important to investigate because it is critical in the design of a system
working in two different environments (air and water).

The ratio of the reflected electrical field to the incident electrical field is the reflection
coefficient ρ for the perpendicular incidence and at normal incidence, this is given by
equation (3.2) when the surface is perfectly smooth [13].
𝐧𝟏−𝐧𝟐
𝛒 = ………..…………….……………………………. (3.2)
𝐧𝟏+𝐧𝟐

Where n1 is the refractive index in the incidence media and 𝑛2 is the reflective index of
the second media. If 𝑛2 > 𝑛1 , the reflection coefficient becomes negative which means
a phase shift between the incident and the reflected electrical fields. The reflectance R is
the ratio between the reflected beam intensity to the incident beam intensity. The
reflectance R is equal to the square of the reflection coefficient ρ for perpendicular
incidence is given by equation (3.3).
𝒏𝟏−𝒏𝟐 𝟐
𝑹 = 𝝆𝟐 = ( ) ………………………….………………. (3.3)
𝒏𝟏+𝒏𝟐

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For the air-water interface at normal incidence ( 𝑛1 = 1 and 𝑛2 = 1.33 ), 𝑅 = 0.02

which means that 2%f the light is reflected. The remainder optical power (98%) is
transmitted into the water. The transmission loss in decibels is -10 log 0.98 which equal
to 0.08 𝑑𝐵. This means that there will be 0.08 𝑑𝐵 loss when the optical signal enters from
air to water at normal incidence. The same is true for transmission from water to air at
normal incidence. The reflected light intensity depends on the angle of incidence and
whether the electric field is polarized parallel or perpendicular to the plane of incidence.
An unpolarized light beam can be decomposed into p, the parallel wave polarization
component and ss, the perpendicular wave polarization component. The reflection
coefficients ρ for the parallel wave polarization and the perpendicular wave polarization
(known as Fresnel’s laws of reflection) are given in equation (3.4) and (3.5) respectively.
The reflectance RP and RSS can be found by squaring the magnitudes of the reflection
coefficients [13].
𝐧𝟏 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛉𝐢𝐧 −√𝐧𝟐𝟐 −𝐧𝟏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝟐 𝛉𝐢𝐧
𝛒𝒑 = ………………………………. (3.4)
𝐧𝟏 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛉𝐢𝐧 +√𝐧𝟐𝟐 −𝐧𝟏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝟐 𝛉𝐢𝐧

−𝐧𝟐𝟐 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛉𝐢𝐧 −√𝐧𝟐𝟐 −𝐧𝟏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝟐 𝛉𝐢𝐧

𝛒𝒔𝒔 = ……………………………... (3.5)
−𝐧𝟐𝟐 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛉𝐢𝐧 +√𝐧𝟐𝟐 −𝐧𝟏𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝟐 𝛉𝐢𝐧

Where 𝜃in is the angle of incidence.

The reflectance is zero for a certain incident angle and polarization which means full
transmission. The zero reflection occurs only for the parallel polarization. This happens at
an incident angle called Brewster angle and is defined by equation (3.6).
𝐧𝟏
𝐭𝐚𝐧𝛉𝐁 = ……………………….……………………………. (3.6)
𝐧𝟐

For the air-water interface which means that 𝑛1 = 1 and 𝑛2 = 1.33 the 𝜃𝐵 = 530 . For
the water-air interface 𝜃𝐵 = 370 . At these incident angles the reflectance for the parallel
polarization is zero (Assuming a smooth surface). There is no incident angle where the
reflectance is zero. The reflectance is unity for total reflection for a range of incident
angles. The reflectance for the parallel and the perpendicular polarization is unity at angles
greater than the critical angle Өc given by equation (3.7)

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𝐧𝟏
𝐭𝐚𝐧𝛉𝐜 = ……..……………………………………………... (3.7)
𝐧𝟐

For the water-air interface the critical angle for the total internal reflection is 48.75°
degree. This can be happened under two conditions:

n1 must be greater than n2 because the sine of an angle is not greater than 1 for real n1
and n2 . The light travels from a region of higher reflective index to a region of lower
reflective index. For the water-air interface, the incident angle should be greater than Өc
for the total internal reflection.

3.3.4. Snell’s Law

Snell’s laws for reflection from a plane surface states that the angle of reflection equals
the angle of incidence. Snell’s law of refraction provides a relation between the incident
angle and the transmit angle as in equation (3.8).
𝐧𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝛉𝟏 = 𝐧𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝛉𝟐 …………………………………………... (3.8)

Where θ1 is the incident angle and θ2 is the transmit angle; n1 = 1 and n2 = 1.33 are the
refractive indexes for water and air respectively. The critical angle for total internal
reflection is given by equation (3.9). If it greater than critical angle, total internal reflection
will occur.
𝐧𝟏 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝛉𝒄 = 𝐧𝟐 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝟗𝟎° ….……..…..……………………. ……. (3.9)

3.3.5. The effect of air bubble on the optical strength

Bubbles in water affect the transmission of the optical signal for two reasons: scattering
under water and changes to the surface of the water making it rough. Therefore, it is very
important to study the effect of these bubbles on the optical propagation path. The
simulation results are presented in chapter four. The effect of air bubbles in water on an
optical signal depends on several different variables including the size and the number of
the air bubbles. The shape and the size of the air bubbles in water make it difficult for
theoretical study. There are different methods to study the scattering of light from the air
bubbles. For large spherical bubbles in water, a geometrical optics approximation (GOA)

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is considered a better method for calculating the scattering light patterns. For the small air
bubbles Mie scattering and Debye calculations are used.

3.3.6. Total Internal Reflection (TIR)

Total internal reflection occurs when the incident light in a medium with higher refractive
index is directed towards a plane interface to a medium with lower refractive index. It
occurs when the angle of incidence is equal or greater than the critical angle. Figure 3.2,
shows geometry of the light in an underwater optical wireless communication showing
TIR.

Figure 3.2: Block Diagram of Underwater Communication System

In figure 3.2, d is the depth of the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) beneath the surface,
s is the distance between the transmitter and the receiver (direct path), s1 is the distance
from the receiver to the image ray path (the reflected path) and 𝜃𝑖𝑛 is the angle of incident
governed by equation (3.10).
𝟎.𝟓𝐬
𝛉𝐢𝐧 = 𝐭𝐚𝐧 − 𝟏 ( )……………………….………………. (3.10)
𝐝

For the water-air interface, Ө𝑐 = 48.75° .For a perfectly flat surface the image ray path
𝑠 is given by equation (3.11).

𝐬 = √𝐬 𝟐 + (𝟐𝐝)𝟐 ……………..……….……………………. (3.11)

3.3.7. Inverse Square Law

In a homogenous medium, the optical signal power P at a distance s from the source is
given by the inverse square law.

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𝐩 = 𝐩𝐨 (𝐬𝐨/𝐬)𝟐 …………………………………………......(3.12)

Where Po is the optical power at distance so and P is the optical power at distance s. The
optical attenuation is given by Beer’s law.
𝐩 = 𝐏𝟎 𝐞𝐱𝐩 (−𝐜(𝛌))𝐬 ……………………………….…...……... (3.13)

S is the distance of propagation and 𝑐(𝜆) is the attenuation coefficient. The propagation
loss factor 𝐿𝑝𝑟 (𝜆, 𝑠) is related to the distances.

𝑳𝒑𝒓 (𝝀, 𝒔) = 𝒆𝒙𝒑 [−𝒄(𝝀) 𝒔] …….….…………….………......(3.14)

The attenuation coefficient 𝑐(𝜆) depends on the wavelength and the water type and is the
sum of 𝛼(𝜆) the absorption coefficient and 𝛽(𝜆) the scattering coefficient [8].
𝐂(𝛌) = 𝛂(𝛌) + 𝛃(𝛌) …………………………………… (3.15)

The attenuation coefficient for clean ocean water is 0.1514 𝑚−1 which is a common value
mentioned in various articles in the literature. For coastal ocean water 𝑐(𝜆) = 0.30 𝑚−1
at wavelength 520 nm. The detector converts the optical power to a current and then to
voltage using a current to voltage amplifier (trans impedance amplifier). The output
voltage from the trans impedance amplifier is proportional to the incident light intensity
at the detector.

3.3.8. Light Sources

An optical light source is characterized by viewing angle, wavelength, luminous intensity

and current. A LED (Light Emitting Diode) was chosen because it radiates over a wide-
angle range. This is important because of the movement of the transmitter and receiver.
The LED converts an electrical signal to an optical signal and has a relatively low
luminous intensity, (less hazardous compared to a laser source) and can be used for indoor
and outdoor short distance applications. The luminous intensity I is quoted in candela (cd).
The power density (𝑃′ ) in (maw/m2) at distance 1 m can be written as
𝐈 𝐖
𝐩′(𝐬 = 𝟏𝐦) = .…………..…………………... (3.16)
𝐑𝐑(𝛌)𝟔𝟖𝟑 𝐦𝟐 1m

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Where 𝑅𝑅 (𝜆) is the relative response for the adjusted human eye at 525 nm wavelength?
Figure 3.3, shows the relative response of the adjusted human eye for different
wavelength.

The calculated power density at any wavelength depends on RR(λ).

Figure 3.3: Relative response of the adjusted human eye versus wavelength.

3.3.9. Optical Wavelength

The attenuation of light in water depends on wavelength and water type. Choosing the
most suitable wavelength is important for the optical wireless system that performs in
water. There is a strong relationship between wavelength and water attenuation. The
minimum absorption and scattering coefficients occur in the blue-green wavelength range
between (450-570) nm. Light with wavelengths around 530 nm experience minimum
absorption. There is an important tradeoff between the water attenuation and the spectral
sensitivity of the receiver.

The ultimate goal is to maximize the received signal (transmitter to receiver). This depends
on the transmitter efficiency, water optical properties and the receiver gain. The
normalized optical system gain can be written approximately as:
𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏(𝝀 ) = 𝑳𝑬𝑫(𝝀 )𝑷𝑰𝑵(𝝀)𝒆 − 𝒄(𝝀) 𝒔 ………………….. (3.17)

Where s is distance between the transmitter and the receiver, LED(λ) normalized LED
conversion efficiency, PIN(λ) normalized PIN photodiode conversion efficiency, c(λ)
water attenuation which depends on the light wavelength.

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3.3.10. Optical Receiver

Photo detector technologies include photo resisters, phototransistors, avalanche

photodiodes and pin photodiodes. A photodiode converts an optical signal to an electrical
signal or current. The factors taken into account for choosing a suitable photodiode include
responsively, spectral response, rise time, dynamic range, size, simplicity and supply
voltage. The pin photodiode was the most suitable choice for the UOWC system because
of the linearity, size and reliability.

Table 3.1: Comparison Between Different Photo Detectors

Features Photo Phototransistors Pin photodiodes Avalanche

resistors photodiodes
Size Small Small Small Small

Linearity Over small Good Excellent Not linear

regions
Speed Slow<1 HZ Moderate Fast up to tens Fast hundreds of
kHz<250 of MHZ to tens MHZ to tens GHZ
of GHZ
Gain Little 100-1500 Unity 100-10,000

Ambient noise Very good Excellent Very good Fair

performance

The OPT101 includes photodiode with a trans impedance amplifier in the same package
and convert the current to voltage. This was used as the receiver. Figure 3.4, shows the
internal structure of the OPT101.

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Figure 3.4: Internal Structure of the OPT101.

3.3.11. Link Budget Calculations

This section covers the calculations for the link budget used to evaluate the optical link by
calculating the received signal. As the transmitter and the receiver move with the
swimmer’s hand and head, the link is sometimes line of sight (LOS) and sometimes non
line of sight (NLOS).

Link Budget LOS

The success of a communication link depends on the power of the received signal relative
to the noise at the receiver. This is called power margin (𝑃𝑚 ) or link margin. The higher
Pm, the higher the reliability of the communication link and the wider the range of
acceptance angles. The most important factors in the link budget calculations are the
transmitted power 𝑃𝑡 the channel losses L and the receiver sensitivity S. The received
optical power 𝑃𝑟 in dB is given by (18).
𝑷𝒓 = 𝑷𝒕 − 𝐋 ………………………………...……………… (3.18)

Where 𝑃𝑡 in dB and L in dB the power margin 𝑃𝑚 can be calculated if the receiver

sensitivity S is known. The receiver sensitivity is the minimum signal power required to
achieve a successful communication link. Therefore, the link margin or power margin is.
𝑃𝑚 = 𝑃𝑟 − 𝐒 …………………........…...…………………. (3.19)

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If the link margin Pm > 0 (linear scale), the received power is greater than the receiver
sensitivity, and the communication link will be successful. However, if Pm is negative in
a linear scale, the communication system will not be able to achieve the required range.
Figure 3.5, summarizes the factors that influence the link in an underwater optical wireless
communication.

Transmitte Medium input Receiver Inputs

Water Type Responsivity

Luminous-
intensity Path links Rise Time

Rise Time Optical RX Beam-

Depth
Filter Divergence
HPBW Season
Pointing Loss
Wavelength
Noise

TX Spectral-

Figure 3.5: Designing Consideration of Under Water Optical Wireless Link

Luminous Intensity: is a quantity for characterizing a light source. It is defined as

the luminous flux per unit solid angle. The luminous intensity is a quantity of photometry,
taking into account the spectral response of the human eye – typically for photopic vision,
i.e., assuming sufficiently high light intensity (luminance) for color vision. The term is
mostly applied with the approximation of a point source, i.e., in distances which are large
to the extent of the source.

rise time: In the approximation of a step function, the time required for a signal to change
from a specified low value to a specified high value.

HPBW: is an angular width (in degrees), measured on the major lobe of an antenna
radiation pattern at half-power points i.e the points at which the signal power is half that
of its peak value.

Optical Filter

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Optical Filters are used to selectively transmit or reject a wavelength or range of

wavelengths.

Responsivity: measures the input–output gain of a detector system. In the specific case of
a photodetector, responsivity measures the electrical output per optical input.
The responsivity of a photodetector is usually expressed in units of either amperes or volts
per watt of incident radiant power.

beam divergence: is an angular measure of the increase in beam diameter or radius with
distance from the optical aperture from which the beam emerges

Pointing Loss is the loss from angular and spatial mismatch between transmitter and
receiver

Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a

physics standpoint, noise is indistinguishable from desired sound, as both are vibrations
through a medium, such as air or water.

Spectral sensitivity is the relative efficiency of detection, of light or other signal, as a

function of the frequency or wavelength of the signal.

Figure 3.6: The LOS and NLOS Path (Reflected Link) for UOWC system

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Figure 3.6 show the LOS and NLOS path (reflected link) for underwater optical wireless
communication system. The received power and the link margin was calculated using the
arrangement shown in Figure 3.6.

The LOS path length is given by

𝐝_𝐋𝐎𝐒 = √𝐬 𝟐 + (𝐱 − 𝐡)𝟐 ……………………..………..……. (3.20)

Where d_los , the LOS path length is the perpendicular distance between the transmitter
and the receivers. h and x are the depth of the transmitter and the receiver respectively.
The propagation loss factor for LOS path is given by:
𝐋(𝛌) = 𝐞𝐱𝐩(−𝐜(𝛌) 𝐝_𝐋𝐎𝐒) ………………………………..…. (3.21)

Where c(λ) is the water attenuation coefficient which depends on the water type, optical
wavelength and whether there is intense aeration (bubbles) in the water. Assuming a
Lambertian emitter, gain reduction as a function of the angle 𝜃 = 𝜃𝑡𝑥− γ with respect to
the main beam direction is given by:
𝜽𝒕𝒙− γ
𝑮𝑳𝑶𝑺 = 𝒄𝒐𝒔[ ] …………...…..…………………… (3.22)
𝑯𝑩𝑩𝑾/𝟏𝟐𝟎𝟎

Where HPBW is the half power beam width for the transmitter and 𝜽𝒕𝒙 is the pointing
angle of the transmitter. The angle γ is given by: -
𝐱−𝐡
𝛄 = 𝐬𝐢𝐧 − 𝟏[ ] …………………………………………… (3.23)
𝐬

the optical power density P′rLOS at the receiver at any distance dLOS is given the inverse
square law as in (24).
𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐋(𝛌)𝐩′
𝐏𝐫 ′ 𝐋𝐎𝐒 = .……………..…………………..... (3.24)
𝐝𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝟐

where P′ is the optical transmit power density at distance 1 m calculated from equation
(3.16) neglecting any loss due to the medium.

The received power on the receiver aperture can be written

𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐋(𝛌)𝐏 ′ 𝐑𝐞𝐜 𝐂𝐎𝐒(𝛉𝐫𝐱+𝛄)
𝑷𝐫𝐋𝐎𝐒 = …………………….… (3.25)
𝐝𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝟐

Where PrLos is the LOS received power, ARec is the area of the receiver.

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Link Budget NLOS

In this section, the main discussion is the case where both the transmitter and the receiver
are in water and the surface is planar. For the reflected link as shown in figure 3.6, the
value of h and x will dynamically change according to the movement of the swimmer’s
hand and head. 𝜃𝑖𝑛 is the incident angle onto the water/air interface. From the geometry
in Figure 3.9.
𝐱
𝐚 = (𝟏 − 𝟏)𝐬 ……………………………………………..… (3.26)
𝐱𝟐

Where for the first choice, 𝑥1 = ℎ and 𝑥2 = 𝑥, Otherwise, 𝑥1 = 𝑥 and 𝑥2 = ℎ .

𝑽 = √(𝟎. 𝟐𝟓(𝒔 − 𝒂𝟐 ) + 𝒙𝟏𝟐 ) …………………………….…. (3.27)

Where v is the path length from the transmitter to the water surface for h < x and the path
length from the water surface to the receiver for h ≥ x. The NLOS path length is given by

𝒅𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑺 = 𝟐𝒗 + √(𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏 )𝟐 + 𝒂𝟐 ……………………...… (3.28)

The incident angle onto the interface is given by (29)

𝐬−𝐚
𝜽𝒊𝒏 = 𝐭𝐚𝐧−𝟏 ( ) ………………………………..…………. (3.29)
𝟐𝒙𝟏

The reflection coefficients are given by Fresnel equations (3.4) and (3.5). Assuming
unpolarised light the reflected power is given by
𝐑 = 𝟎. 𝟓[|𝐫𝐬𝐬|𝟐 + |𝐫𝐩|𝟐] ………………………………….. (3.30)

The gain reduction for the transmitter is given by

𝑪𝑶𝑺 [𝜽𝒕𝒙+𝟗𝟎°−𝜽𝒊𝒏
𝑮𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑺 = ] …………...……………………... (3.31)
𝑯𝑷𝑩𝑾/𝟏𝟐𝟎𝟎

The propagation loss L′ (λ) for the NLOS path is given by

𝐋′(𝛌) = 𝐞𝐱𝐩(−𝐜′(𝛌)𝐝𝐍𝐋𝐎𝐒) ………………...…………….... (3.32)

The optical power density at the receiver P’ r NLOS at any distance dNLOS is according
to the inverse square law as in (3.33)
𝑮𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑺 𝑳′(𝝀)𝑷′𝑹
𝑷𝒓′ 𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑺 = ……………………………………. (3.33)
𝒅𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑺 𝟐

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Where R is given by equation (3.30) and P’ is the optical transmit power density at distance
1 m calculated from equation (3.16) neglecting any loss due to the medium. The received
power on the receiver aperture can be written: -
𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑺 𝑳′(𝝀)𝑷′𝑨𝑹𝒆𝒔 𝑹𝑪𝑶𝑺 (𝜽𝒓𝒙+𝝅⁄𝟐−𝜽𝒊𝒏)
𝒑𝒓𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑺 = …….……… (3.34)
𝒅𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑺 𝟐

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Chapter Four

4. Simulation Result and Discussion

4.1. Introduction
This chapter presents the simulation results for the link budget calculations for different
light sources in order to choose the suitable components for the system.

4.2. Simulation Parameters

Two LEDs were chosen for the simulation (L-7676CVGC-H and RL5-G13008). The
(L7676CVGC-H) Super flux LED was used because it has a wide viewing angle or half
power beam width (HPBW 700 ), considerable high luminous flux (9500 mcd) and has
low electrical power requirements. The receiver OPT101 was easy to use because it
includes a photodiode and trans impedance amplifier in the same package. This helps
eliminate some problems that happen with the discrete designs such as noise pick-up,
leakage currents errors and the effect of the stray capacitance. The sensitivity used was
the noise equivalent power (NEP) for a band width of 14 KHz (as found from the
datasheet). Table 4.1, shows the parameters used in the simulation for the light sources,
the propagation medium and the Opt101 receiver. The attenuation coefficient with the
effect of the air bubbles was 2.94 𝑚−1.

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Table 4.1: Simulation Parameters for the Optical Wireless System

Parameters Specifications
Light Source(LED) Super flux RL5-G13008
Transmitter beam width or Half 700=1.2rad 80=0.139rad
power Beam width(HPBW)
Luminous intensity 9500 mcd at 70 mA 1300 mcd at 20 mA
Wavelength 525nm green 525 nm green
Transmitter and Receiver depth 10 cm 10 cm
Water attenuation without bubbles 0.154 𝑚−1,0.087 𝑚−1
and 0.097 𝑚−1
Water attenuation with bubbles 2.94 𝑚−1
Water refractive index 1.33
Detector OPT101
Detector dark current (ID) 2.5pA
The receiver aperture area ( 𝐴𝑅𝑒𝑐) 5.24x 10−6 𝑚2
Sensitivity at 14KHz BW and -55 dB
wavelength=525 nm assuming 6dB
losses due to the water proof
sealing

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The simulation code was written in MATLAB and is given in appendix based on the
geometry in figure 3.6

Figure 4.1: LOS Received Power Versus Distance d LOS

The above Figure 4.1 shows the LOS received power versus distance dLOS with and
without the effect of air bubbles according to equation (3.25) for two light sources and the
Opt101 receiver. The figure show that the water without bubbles have higher power at the
receiver than water with bubbles for both Super flux and RL5-G13008 LED. Super flux
has low power at the receiver than the RL5-G13008 LED.in the line of site (LOS)
communication RL5-G13008 good for effective communication.

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Figure 4.2: LOS Received Power Density Versus Distance d LOS

The above Figure 4.2 shows the LOS received power density versus distance dLOS with
and without the effect of air bubbles according to equation (3.25) for two light sources and
the Opt101 receiver.

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Figure 4.3: Received Power Versus Distance Without the Effect of Air Bubble

The above Figure 4.3 shows NLOS received power versus distance d NLOS according to
equation (3.34) Without the effect of air bubbles. It is shown that the NLOS received
power for the super flux appears at distances greater than 0.25 m while for RL5-G13008
no NLOS received signal appears because of the slightly narrower beam width of this light
source. This figure shows that after about 0.2 m there is a point of inflection which comes
because light from the reflected path strongly increases due total internal reflection that
happens when the incident angle is greater or equals the critical angle.

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Figure 4.4: Received Power Density Versus Distance Without the Effect of Air Bubble

The above Figure 4.4 shows NLOS received power density versus distance dNLOS
according to equation (3.34) Without the effect of air bubbles. It is shown that the NLOS
received power density for the super flux appears at distances greater than 0.25 m while
for RL5-G13008 no NLOS received signal appears because of the slightly narrower beam
width of this light source. This figure shows that after about 0.2 m there is a point of
inflection which comes because light from the reflected path strongly increases due total
internal reflection that happens when the incident angle is greater or equals the critical
angle.

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Figure 4.5: LOS Received Power Versus the Transmitter Pointing Angle

Figure 4.5 shows the LOS received power versus the transmitter pointing angle 𝜃𝑇𝑥 with
and without the effect of air bubbles. The RL5-G13008 LED has higher LOS received
power compared to the superflux LED. However, the problem with the former is the
narrow HPBW which makes it unsuitable for the underwater communication application
because of the dynamic movement of a transmitter and receiver. The receiver sensitivity
has a value of -55 dBm.

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Figure 4.6: Power Density Versus the Transmitter Pointing Angle

Figure 4.6, shows the LOS power density versus the transmitter pointing angle 𝜃𝑇𝑥 with
and without the effect of air bubbles. The RL5-G13008 LED has higher LOS received
power compared to the superflux LED. However, the problem with the former is the
narrow HPBW which makes it unsuitable for the swimming application because of the
dynamic movement of a swimmer’s hand and head. The receiver sensitivity has a value of
-55 dBm.

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Figure 4.7 and 4.8, shows the NLOS received power and power density versus the
transmitter pointing angle tax with and without the effect of air bubbles. The HPBW is
determined from -3 dB from the maximum value [17].

Figure 4.7: Received Power Versus the Pointing Angle Without the Effect of Bubbles

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Design and Analysis of Wireless Underwater Optical Communication 2013 E.C

Figure 4.8: Received Power Density Vs Pointing Angle Without the Effect Bubble.

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Figure 4.9: Total Received Power Vs Pointing Angle Without the Effect of Bubbles

Figure 4.9, shows the total received power versus the pointing angle 𝜃𝑇𝑥 of the transmitter
without the effect of air bubbles. It is shown that the superflux LED achieved high link
availability because it has in most cases the additional reflected path. The two peaks appear
using the RL5-G13008 because of the direct path and the reflected path from the water
surface. The black dashed horizontal line in the plot below represents the receiver
sensitivity. The minimum value for the total receives power for LOS and NLOS for RL5-
G13008 lies at viewing angle =±8 degree. The HPBW is determined from -3 dB from the
maximum value [18].

Figure 4.10: The Normalized Gain as A Function of Wavelength for Pool Water

Figure 4.10, shows the normalized gain for different wavelengths for pure water pool
water. Red light provides a high gain and can be used for short distances. The normalized
gain as a function of wavelength for an optical link in pool and pure water including LED
efficiency, water attenuation and photodiode efficiency for is photodiode

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Figure 4.11: Normalized Optical Gain as A Function of Wavelength for Pure Water

Figure 4.11 show the normalized gain for different wavelengths for pure water. Red light
provides a high gain and can be used for short distances

4.4. Discussion and conclusion

The simulation results for the LOS and NLOS path for both light sources and the opt101
receiver showed that the total received power for 1 m distance was greater than the receiver
sensitivity with and without the effect of air bubbles. This means that the link margin is
positive in these two cases and the communication system with this arrangement can
achieve 1m communication link underwater with the effect of air bubbles.

The simulation results for underwater link budget calculations for an optical wireless
communication were presented in this chapter. Two different light sources and the opt101
IDP receiver were simulated in order to achieve 1 m communication between a sensor

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mounted. The simulation results showed that HPBW and the bubbles are important factors
for the link availability and the link budget. The superflux LED and the opt101 IDP
receiver can achieve successful communication in a range up to 1 m with and without the
effect of air bubbles. The simulation results showed that the proposed optical wireless
system is feasible.

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Chapter 5

5. Conclusion and Recommendations

5.1. Conclusion
The received optical wireless signal is affected by the air bubbles in water, the different
noise sources and total internal reflection from the surface of the water. The link budget
calculations were discussed and the related equations were used to help select suitable
components for this system. The optical transmitter including the light sources, optical
wavelength selection and the optical receiver which include different photo diode were
discussed. The main conclusions of are the green light has the lowest attenuation in water.
However, for short distance less than 1 m, longer wavelength may provide higher link
budget depending on the spectra sensitivity of the receiver. PIN photodiode were suitable
for this thesis and result in a link margin of 3 dBm at 1 m distance. The ambient light was
the largest noise source for the optical signal. Total internal reflection for air-water
interface may not allow the optical signal to access to the receiver at all times when the
surface is planer.

5.2. Recommendation for the future

We put the recommendation to an interested researcher for further analysis to
implementation this under water wireless optical communication.
❖ Any interested researcher can increase the distance from transmitter to receiver by
using an appropriate analysis and considerations.
❖ Any interested researcher should take up this analysis or mathematical modeling
to implement UWOC practically.
❖ Future research might be directed at improving design the hardware, software
with microcontroller and implementation of the system.

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Reference

[1] Pearl Antoinette Medez1, Rithu James2, "“Comparative Study of Underwater

Wireless Optical," IOSR Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering
(IOSR-JECE), vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 40-48, 2015.

[2] C.T.Poomagal, M.Athappa, "Wireless Optical Communication for Underwater

Applications," Electronics and Communication Engineering, vol. 2, no. 1, p. 17,
2014.

[3] Giles, J.W.; Bankman, I.N., "Underwater optical communications systems," in

Military Communications Conference, Atlantic City, NJ, USA, 2011.

[4] Pontbriand, Clifford; Farr, Norman; Ware, Jonathan; Preisig, James, "Diffuse high-
bandwidth optical communications," in IEEE, Quebec City, QC, Canada, 2008.
[5] Doerun, A.Mahdi and J.S., "Wireless optical communications," in IEEE Wireless
Communications and Networking Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2004.
[6] Wilbert, H. Henniker and O., "An Introduction to Free-space Optical
Communications," Institute of Communications and Navigation, German
Aerospace Center, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 203-2012, 2010.
[7] Gee, Y. Liu and X., "Underwater Laser sensor network," in WSEAS International,
Istanbul, Turkey, 2006.
[8] Y.F.Fung, M.Dai,and M.F.Recant, "Underwater short range free space optical
communication for a robotic swarm," in International Conference on Autonomous
Robots and Agents, Wellington, New Zealand, 2009.
[9] G. Baden, Y. Bistro, and A. Malot, "Paving the way for a future underwater
omnidirectional wireless optical communication systems," in Ocean Engineering,
vol. 36, 2009, pp. 633-640.
[10] X. Liu, X. Yu, and M. Sui, "Evaluation of Underwater Wireless Optical
Communication Link with Pspice Simulator," in Wireless Communications,
Networking and Mobile Computing, Japan,Tokoyo, 2007.
[11] D. Angina, D. Brizzolara, and G. Parodi, "Building an Underwater Wireless Sensor
Network Based on Optical Communication: Research Challenges and Current
Results," in Sensor Technologies and Applications, Athens, Greece, 2009.
[12] Gao, Shuo, "PERFORMANCE STUDY FOR INDOOR VISIBLE LIGHT
COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS," in Library and Archives, Ottawa, Canada, 2013.
[13] D.C.O'Brien, L.Zing,H.Le-Minh,G.Faulkner,J.W.Wale ski, and S.Randal, "Visible
light communications: Challenges and possibilities," in International Symposium
on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications, Cannes, France, 2008.

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Appendix

Matlab sample code

%LOS Received Power with distance
%gain reduction for NLOS not accounted for!
close all;
varfontsize = 14;
n1=1.33; % refraction index water
x = 0.1; % [m] Tx depth
h = 0.1; % [m] Rx depth
figure
plot(d_LOS, 10*log10(P_r_density_LOS_Sflux_water),'b-');
hold on
plot(d_LOS, 10*log10(P_r_density_LOS_Sflux_bubbles),'b-.');
xlabel('Distance LOS (m)','fontsize',varfontsize);
ylabel('Received Power Density LOS path (dBm/m^2)','fontsize',varfontsize) ;
hold off legend('Sflux w/o bubbles', 'Sflux w/bubbles', 'RL5-G13008 w/o bubbles', 'RL5-
G13008 w/bubbles',0)
figure
plot(d_LOS, 10*log10(P_r_LOS_Sflux_water),'b-');
xlabel('Distance LOS (m)','fontsize',varfontsize);
ylabel('Received Power LOS path (dBm)','fontsize',varfontsize)
hold off legend('Sflux w/o bubbles', 'Sflux w/bubbles', 'RL5-G13008 w/o bubbles', 'RL5-
G13008 w/bubble',0)

%NLOS Received Power with distance

%gain reduction for NLOS not accounted for!
close all;
varfontsize = 14;
n1=1.33; % refraction index water
x = 0.1; % [m] Tx depth

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h = 0.1; % [m] Rx depth

s = linspace(0.1,1,100); % [m] perpendicular distance between Tx plane and Rx plane
Theta_tx = 0; % [rad] directing angle Tx rel to surface; positive if Tx looking downward
A_Rec = 5.24*10^-6; % [m^2] Rx aperture
% superflux LED
P_1m_Sflux = 19.6; % [mW/m^2]
HPBW_Sflux=70; % [°]

figure plot(d_NLOS, 10*log10(P_r_density_NLOS_Sflux_water),'b-');

xlabel('Distance NLOS (m)','fontsize',varfontsize);

ylabel('Received Power Density NLOS path (dBm/m^2)','fontsize',varfontsize) ;

grid on hold off

legend('Sflux w/o bubbles',0) ;

%LOS Received power with the pointing Error LOSS

close all;

varfontsize = 14;

n1=1.33; % refraction index water

x = 0.1; %[m] Tx depth

h = 0.1; % [m] Rx depth

s = 1; % [m] perpendicular distance between Tx plane and Rx plane

Theta_tx = linspace(-60, 60, 1000)*pi/180;

Theta_rx = 0; % [rad] directing angle Rx rel to surface; positive if Rx looking downward

A_Rec = 5.24*10^-6; % [m^2] Rx aperture

% superflux LED

P_1m_Sflux = 19.6; % [mW/m^2]

HPBW_Sflux=70; % [°]

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plot(Theta_tx*180/pi, 10*log10(P_r_LOS_RL5_bubbles),'r-.');

xlabel('\Theta_T_x (°)','fontsize',varfontsize);

ylabel('Received Power LOS path (dBm)','fontsize',varfontsize) hold off

legend('Sflux w/o bubbles', 'Sflux w/bubbles', 'RL5-G13008 w/o bubbles', 'RL5-G13008

w/bubbles',0)

%NLOS Received power with the pointing Error LOSS

close all; varfontsize = 14; n1=1.33; % refraction index water x = 0.1; %[m] Tx depth h
= 0.1; % [m] Rx depth s = 1; % [m] perpendicular distance between Tx plane and Rx
plane

Theta_tx = linspace(-60, 60, 1000)*pi/180;

Theta_rx = 0; % [rad] directing angle Rx rel to surface; positive if Rx looking downward

A_Rec = 5.24*10^-6; % [m^2] Rx aperture

% superflux LED

P_1m_Sflux = 19.6; % [mW/m^2]

HPBW_Sflux=70; % [°]

legend('Sflux w/o bubbles', 'Sflux w/bubbles', 'RL5-G13008 w/o bubbles', 'RL5-G13008

w/bubble',0)

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