Visible Light Communication for Underwater Applications: Principles, Challenges, and Future Prospects
Underwater wireless communications face significant challenges due to high attenuation, turbulence, and water turbidity. Traditional methods like acoustic and radio frequency (RF) communication suffer from low data rates (<100 kbps), high latency (>1 s), and limited transmission distances (<...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Photonics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/6/593 |
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| author | Vindula L. Jayaweera Chamodi Peiris Dhanushika Darshani Sampath Edirisinghe Nishan Dharmaweera Uditha Wijewardhana |
| author_facet | Vindula L. Jayaweera Chamodi Peiris Dhanushika Darshani Sampath Edirisinghe Nishan Dharmaweera Uditha Wijewardhana |
| author_sort | Vindula L. Jayaweera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Underwater wireless communications face significant challenges due to high attenuation, turbulence, and water turbidity. Traditional methods like acoustic and radio frequency (RF) communication suffer from low data rates (<100 kbps), high latency (>1 s), and limited transmission distances (<10 km).Visible Light Communication (VLC) emerges as a promising alternative, offering high-speed data transmission (up to 5 Gbps), low latency (<1 ms), and immunity to electromagnetic interference. This paper provides an in-depth review of underwater VLC, covering fundamental principles, environmental factors (scattering, absorption), and dynamic water properties. We analyze modulation techniques, including adaptive and hybrid schemes (QAM-OFDM achieving 4.92 Gbps over 1.5 m), and demonstrate their superiority over conventional methods. Practical applications—underwater exploration, autonomous vehicle control, and environmental monitoring—are discussed alongside security challenges. Key findings highlight UVLC’s ability to overcome traditional limitations, with experimental results showing 500 Mbps over 150 m using PAM4 modulation. Future research directions include integrating quantum communication and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) to further enhance performance, with simulations projecting 40% improved spectral efficiency in turbulent conditions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-00dc1ba42d0f4e098138d74f91897c4f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2304-6732 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Photonics |
| spelling | doaj-art-00dc1ba42d0f4e098138d74f91897c4f2025-08-20T02:21:46ZengMDPI AGPhotonics2304-67322025-06-0112659310.3390/photonics12060593Visible Light Communication for Underwater Applications: Principles, Challenges, and Future ProspectsVindula L. Jayaweera0Chamodi Peiris1Dhanushika Darshani2Sampath Edirisinghe3Nishan Dharmaweera4Uditha Wijewardhana5Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 12250, Sri LankaDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 12250, Sri LankaDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 12250, Sri LankaDepartment of Computer Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 12250, Sri LankaDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 12250, Sri LankaDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda 12250, Sri LankaUnderwater wireless communications face significant challenges due to high attenuation, turbulence, and water turbidity. Traditional methods like acoustic and radio frequency (RF) communication suffer from low data rates (<100 kbps), high latency (>1 s), and limited transmission distances (<10 km).Visible Light Communication (VLC) emerges as a promising alternative, offering high-speed data transmission (up to 5 Gbps), low latency (<1 ms), and immunity to electromagnetic interference. This paper provides an in-depth review of underwater VLC, covering fundamental principles, environmental factors (scattering, absorption), and dynamic water properties. We analyze modulation techniques, including adaptive and hybrid schemes (QAM-OFDM achieving 4.92 Gbps over 1.5 m), and demonstrate their superiority over conventional methods. Practical applications—underwater exploration, autonomous vehicle control, and environmental monitoring—are discussed alongside security challenges. Key findings highlight UVLC’s ability to overcome traditional limitations, with experimental results showing 500 Mbps over 150 m using PAM4 modulation. Future research directions include integrating quantum communication and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs) to further enhance performance, with simulations projecting 40% improved spectral efficiency in turbulent conditions.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/6/593Visible Light Communication (VLC)underwater communicationmodulation techniquessecurity and privacy |
| spellingShingle | Vindula L. Jayaweera Chamodi Peiris Dhanushika Darshani Sampath Edirisinghe Nishan Dharmaweera Uditha Wijewardhana Visible Light Communication for Underwater Applications: Principles, Challenges, and Future Prospects Photonics Visible Light Communication (VLC) underwater communication modulation techniques security and privacy |
| title | Visible Light Communication for Underwater Applications: Principles, Challenges, and Future Prospects |
| title_full | Visible Light Communication for Underwater Applications: Principles, Challenges, and Future Prospects |
| title_fullStr | Visible Light Communication for Underwater Applications: Principles, Challenges, and Future Prospects |
| title_full_unstemmed | Visible Light Communication for Underwater Applications: Principles, Challenges, and Future Prospects |
| title_short | Visible Light Communication for Underwater Applications: Principles, Challenges, and Future Prospects |
| title_sort | visible light communication for underwater applications principles challenges and future prospects |
| topic | Visible Light Communication (VLC) underwater communication modulation techniques security and privacy |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/12/6/593 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vindulaljayaweera visiblelightcommunicationforunderwaterapplicationsprincipleschallengesandfutureprospects AT chamodipeiris visiblelightcommunicationforunderwaterapplicationsprincipleschallengesandfutureprospects AT dhanushikadarshani visiblelightcommunicationforunderwaterapplicationsprincipleschallengesandfutureprospects AT sampathedirisinghe visiblelightcommunicationforunderwaterapplicationsprincipleschallengesandfutureprospects AT nishandharmaweera visiblelightcommunicationforunderwaterapplicationsprincipleschallengesandfutureprospects AT udithawijewardhana visiblelightcommunicationforunderwaterapplicationsprincipleschallengesandfutureprospects |