Zayed M Mokhtar, Shokair Mona
Department of Communications, Faculty of Electronic Engineering, Menoufia University, Menoufia Governorate, Menouf City, Egypt.
Department of Communications and Computers Engineering, Higher Institute of Engineering, El-Shorouk Academy, El-Shorouk City, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 4;15(1):28381. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-10935-w.
The Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) is revolutionizing underwater communication by enabling real-time data exchange, environmental monitoring, and exploration in aquatic environments. Among emerging technologies, optical wireless communication (OWC) has gained prominence due to its high-speed data rates and superior efficiency compared to traditional acoustic and radio frequency (RF) methods. This paper presents a comprehensive study of OWC channel modeling and simulation tailored for IoUT applications. The research investigates the physical characteristics of underwater optical channels, focusing on the effects of absorption, scattering, turbulence, and various noise sources on light propagation across diverse water types, including pure seawater, clear coastal waters, and turbid harbor waters. A central aspect of the study is the comparative evaluation of two transmitter types-light-emitting diode photo sources (LED-PS) and laser diode photo sources (LD-PS)-both operating at a 520 nm wavelength (green light). Their performance is assessed under varying environmental conditions, incorporating three turbulence models: log-normal, generalized gamma, and Weibull distributions. Simulation models are developed and implemented using MATLAB and Python to analyze key parameters such as transmission distance, water type, transmitter characteristics, wavelength, and turbulence intensity. Performance metrics, including received optical power, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and bit error rate (BER), are evaluated to provide in-depth insights into system behavior. Results show that LD-PS consistently outperforms LED-PS across all scenarios. For instance, at a received power threshold of - 53.4 dBm, LD-PS achieves a communication distance of up to 68.39 m in pure seawater (compared to 27.36 m for LED-PS), while in turbid harbor, the range is reduced to 3.08 m. At a BER of 10, LD-PS reaches 67.69 m in pure seawater and 3.18 m in turbid harbor conditions. Under a fixed SNR of 50 dB, LD-PS achieves a maximum range of 73.34 m in pure sea. The minimum SNR required to maintain a BER of 10 is 12.19 dB in pure seawater and rises to 91.94 dB in turbid harbor conditions. These findings advance the development of OWC systems by providing practical guidelines for optimizing underwater communication performance. The insights presented serve as a foundation for designing robust and efficient IoUT networks capable of reliable data transmission across a range of aquatic environments.
水下物联网（IoUT）正在彻底改变水下通信，它能够在水生环境中实现实时数据交换、环境监测和探索。在新兴技术中，光无线通信（OWC）因其高速数据速率以及与传统声学和射频（RF）方法相比更高的效率而备受关注。本文针对IoUT应用，对OWC信道建模与仿真进行了全面研究。该研究调查了水下光信道的物理特性，重点关注吸收、散射、湍流以及各种噪声源对光在不同类型水体（包括纯海水、清澈沿海水域和浑浊港口水域）中传播的影响。该研究的一个核心方面是对两种发射机类型——发光二极管光源（LED - PS）和激光二极管光源（LD - PS）——的比较评估，这两种光源均工作在520纳米波长（绿光）。在不同环境条件下评估它们的性能，纳入了三种湍流模型：对数正态分布、广义伽马分布和威布尔分布。使用MATLAB和Python开发并实现了仿真模型，以分析诸如传输距离、水体类型、发射机特性、波长和湍流强度等关键参数。评估了包括接收光功率、信噪比（SNR）和误码率（BER）在内的性能指标，以深入了解系统行为。结果表明，在所有场景中LD - PS始终优于LED - PS。例如，在接收功率阈值为 - 53.4 dBm时，LD - PS在纯海水中的通信距离可达68.39米（LED - PS为27.36米），而在浑浊港口中，该距离降至3.08米。在误码率为10时，LD - PS在纯海水中可达67.69米，在浑浊港口条件下为3.18米。在固定信噪比为50 dB时，LD - PS在纯海水中的最大范围为73.34米。在纯海水中维持误码率为10所需的最小信噪比为12.19 dB，在浑浊港口条件下则升至91.94 dB。这些发现为优化水下通信性能提供了实用指南，推动了OWC系统的发展。所呈现的见解为设计能够在一系列水生环境中可靠传输数据的强大且高效的IoUT网络奠定了基础。
