Monte Carlo simulation for underwater optical wireless communications

Abstract

This paper presents the Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate the performance of underwater optical wireless communication for two types of link configuration: line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight reflective links. For line-of-sight links, comparison is made between a collimated and a diffused beam. The results demonstrate that the transmitter beam divergence has a significant impact in the transmission in clean seawater compared to turbid water. The bandwidth that can be achieved for line-of sight links is estimated to be around 100 MHz in turbid water and much higher in clean water. For non-line-of-sight reflective links the bandwidth is severely limited to around 20 MHz in clean water.