In the vast, unexplored depths of our oceans, a technological revolution is brewing, and it’s not about finding sunken treasures or discovering new species. It’s about connecting the underwater world to the internet, a concept known as the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT). And leading the charge in this underwater digital frontier is a technology called Underwater Wireless Optical Communication (UWOC), which promises high-speed, low-delay data transmission. But there’s a catch, as Qi Zhang, a researcher from the College of Information Science and Technology at Dalian Maritime University in China, and his team have found out.
You see, the underwater world is full of obstacles like marine life, seamounts, and equipment that can interrupt optical links. To tackle this, the team has been exploring Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS) technology, which can improve the reliability of UWOC systems. However, a single RIS has its limitations in terms of service coverage and performance enhancement. So, the team decided to up the ante and study multi-RIS-assisted UWOC systems.
In their recent study published in the IEEE Photonics Journal, the team presented two schemes: the full receiving scheme and the selective receiving scheme. They also considered factors like cascaded turbulence channels and pointing errors caused by beam jitter and RIS jitter. The team derived the probability density function (PDF) and the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of the end-to-end instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) using the moment-generating function (MGF) method and the inverse Laplace transform. Based on these analyses, they provided closed-form expressions of the outage probability and the average bit error rate (BER), and even conducted asymptotic analyses to gain more insights into the coding gain and the diversity order.
So, what does this mean for the maritime industry? Well, imagine a network of underwater sensors and devices, all connected and communicating in real-time. This could revolutionize underwater exploration, environmental monitoring, and even offshore operations. As Qi Zhang puts it, “The performance of the proposed multi-RIS-assisted UWOC systems is significantly better than that of the existing single-RIS-assisted UWOC system, and the selective receiving scheme performs better than the full receiving scheme.”
The potential commercial impacts are enormous. For instance, offshore oil and gas companies could use this technology to monitor their equipment and pipelines in real-time, reducing the risk of accidents and improving efficiency. Similarly, underwater mining operations could benefit from real-time data transmission, making the process safer and more efficient. Even the fishing industry could use this technology to monitor fish populations and track their movements, promoting sustainable fishing practices.
Moreover, the technology could also be used for environmental monitoring. Imagine a network of sensors monitoring water quality, temperature, and marine life in real-time. This could provide valuable data for scientists and policymakers, helping them make informed decisions about marine conservation and climate change.
The opportunities are vast, and the maritime industry is poised to reap the benefits. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see more innovative applications and use cases emerge. And with researchers like Qi Zhang and his team at the helm, the future of underwater communication looks bright.