Aqua-Fi: Delivering Internet Underwater
The internet is an indispensable communication tool, connecting tens of billions of devices worldwide, and yet we struggle to connect to the web from under water. “People from both academia and industry want to monitor and explore underwater environments in detail,” explains the first author, Basem Shihada. Wireless internet under the sea would enable divers to talk without hand signals and send live data to the surface.
Aqua-Fi would use radio waves to send data from a diver’s smart phone to a “gateway” device attached to their gear, which would send the data via a light beam to a computer at the surface that is connected to the internet via satellite.
Credit: © 2020 KAUST; Xavier Pita
Now, Shihada’s team has built an underwater wireless system, Aqua-Fi, that supports internet services, such as sending multimedia messages using either LEDs or lasers. LEDs provide a low-energy option for short-distance communication, while lasers can carry data further, but need more power.
The Aqua-Fi prototype used green LEDs or a 520-nanometer laser to send data from a small, simple computer to a light detector connected to another computer. The first computer converts photos and videos into a series of 1s and 0s, which are translated into light beams turning on and off at very high speeds. The light detector senses this variation and turns it back into 1s and 0s, which the receiving computer converts back into the original footage.
Scuba divers could send sea life shots in real time using an aquatic internet service.
Credit: © 2020 KAUST; Xavier Pita
In the real world, Aqua-Fi would use radio waves to send data from a diver’s smartphone to a “gateway” device attached to their gear. Then, much like a booster that extends the WiFi range of a household internet router, this gateway sends the data via a light beam to a computer at the surface that is connected to the internet via satellite.
Aqua-Fi will not be available until the researchers overcome several obstacles. “We hope to improve the link quality and the transmission range with faster electronic components,” explains Shihada. The light beam must also remain perfectly aligned with the receiver in moving waters, and the team is considering a spherical receiver that can capture light from all angles.
“We have created a relatively cheap and flexible way to connect underwater environments to the global internet,” says Shihada. “We hope that one day, Aqua-Fi will be as widely used underwater as WiFi is above water.”
Contacts and sources:
Carolyn Unck
Publication: : Aqua-Fi: Delivering Internet Underwater Using Wireless Optical Networks
Basem Shihada, Osama Amin, Christopher Bainbridge, Seifallah Jardak, Omar Alkhazragi, Tien Khee, Ng Boon Ooi, Michael Berumen, Mohamed-Slim Alouini
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2020/06/aqua-fi-delivering-internet-underwater.html
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