Optimal Trade-Off between Depth and Coverage for a Vertical UOWC Link

Abstract

The optimal trade-off between coverage and depth for a vertical underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) link is thoroughly investigated in this letter. In the scenario under consideration, the optical transmitter is mounted at a fixed position on the sea surface and illuminates a subsea area through a Lambertian radiation pattern. A generic path loss expression is considered with a simplified extinction coefficient, and the most critical parameter values are taken into account. Then, a tractable mathematical formula relating the coverage radius with depth is readily extracted. The analysis of the coverage issues discussed herein takes on a particular research interest due to the rapid growth of UOWC networks nowadays. © 1989-2012 IEEE.