Hybrid LD and LED-based underwater optical communication: state-of-the-art, opportunities, challenges, and trends [Invited]

Abstract

In this paper, the current research of an underwater optical wireless communication (UWOC) network is reviewed first. A hybrid laser diode (LD) and light-emitting diode (LED)-based UWOC system is then proposed and investigated, in which hybrid cluster-based networking with mobility restricted nodes is utilized to improve both the life cycle and throughput of the UWOC network. Moreover, the LEDs are utilized for the coarse alignment, while the LDs are used for high-precision positioning to reduce the difficulty of optical alignment. Finally, challenges and trends for UWOC are pointed out to provide some insight for potential future work of researchers.