Donor Organs Pioneering Underwater Communications Technology

PIONEERING UNDERWATER COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY Underwater Wi-Fi developed by KAUST could prove a game-changer for research and industry

BASEM SHIHADA Associate Professor of Computer Science

WE HAVE CREATED A RELATIVELY CHEAP AND FLEXIBLE WAY TO CONNECT UNDERWATER ENVIRONMENTS TO THE GLOBAL INTERNET. WE HOPE THAT ONE DAY AQUA-FI WILL BE AS WIDELY USED UNDERWATER AS WI-FI IS ABOVE WATER.

SAUDI ARAMCO

“70% of Earth is covered with water and just 5% of Earth’s oceans have been explored and mapped. In this context, KAUST is aiming to make the internet of underwater things a reality in the near future for data collection, underwater resources exploration and underwater infrastructure monitoring.”

Abdullah Al Hallafi, Engineer at Saudi Aramco and KAUST PhD alumni

Communicating underwater is not as easy as above the waves. Standard wireless internet relies on radio transmissions which are ubiquitous above water, yet radio frequencies cannot travel very far underwater before being entirely absorbed. While acoustic signals (sonar) are currently the preferred method to communicate underwater because they travel far, they have a very limited data rate. Researchers at KAUST believe they have found a solution to this problem: underwater Wi-Fi.

KAUST Associate Professor of Computer Science Basem Shihada and his team have built an underwater wireless system. Dubbed “Aqua-Fi”, this underwater wireless network uses a combination of lasers and off-theshelf components to create a bi-directional wireless connection for underwater devices. First, an underwater device (say a smartphone) sends a wireless signal to a special underwater modem that converts it into an optical signal. This optical signal is then beamed to a surface buoy from where its relayed to an orbiting satellite.

It is a complex chain of radio and optical signals that faces several challenges. For one, even mildly turbulent waters can knock a laser beam off course and cause it to miss a receptor, a problem KAUST researchers are working to resolve. The upsides are promising, though. So far, Aqua-Fi has been able to achieve maximum data transfer speeds of 2.11 megabits per second, being able to transfer files and even place Skype calls.

The potential applications are endless. First, it could prove a game-changer for conservation work by allowing scientists to remotely monitor sea life and coral reefs using high-definition videos and photos collected and transmitted by wireless undersea cameras. Aqua-Fi could also be used to transmit data on seismic activity and monitor oil pipelines. Its technology would be a good fit for tech companies like Microsoft as well, which are in the process of trialing underwater data centers that run on renewable energy.