Analysis of Dual Hop RF-UWOC System With RF Energy Harvesting for Marine Applications

This paper presents a comprehensive performance analysis of a dual-hop radio frequency-underwater wireless optical communication (RF-UWOC) system incorporating simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) for marine applications. The proposed system features an energy-harvesting relay, modelled as a buoy access point (BAP), that forwards data from multiple ground stations (GSs) to an underwater destination via hybrid RF and UWOC links. We employ a Markov chain-based user selection strategy at the transmitter to address the stochastic nature of GS availability and traffic load. The RF and UWOC links are modelled using Nakagami-$m$ fading and an exponential-generalized gamma (EGG) distribution, respectively, capturing realistic fading and turbulence conditions. Closed-form expressions for the average bit error probability (ABEP) are derived for both amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) relaying schemes, incorporating nonlinear energy-harvesting constraints. Analytical results are validated through simulations and asymptotic analysis, revealing the influence of modulation schemes, power splitting ratios, turbulence conditions, and traffic intensity on system performance. The findings provide new design insights for robust, self-sustaining underwater communication networks in energy-constrained marine environments.