2.

3 Gbit/s underwater wireless optical

communications using directly modulated 520
nm laser diode
Hassan Makine Oubei,1 Changping Li,2 Ki-Hong Park,2 Tien Khee Ng,1 Mohamed-Slim
Alouini,2 and Boon S. Ooi1,*
1
Photonics Laboratory, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah
University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2
Communication Theory Laboratory, Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division,
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
*
boon.ooi@kaust.edu.sa

Abstract: We experimentally demonstrate a record high-speed underwater

wireless optical communication (UWOC) over 7 m distance using on-off
keying non-return-to-zero (OOK-NRZ) modulation scheme. The
communication link uses a commercial TO-9 packaged pigtailed 520 nm
laser diode (LD) with 1.2 GHz bandwidth as the optical transmitter and an
avalanche photodiode (APD) module as the receiver. At 2.3 Gbit/s
transmission, the measured bit error rate of the received data is 2.23 × 10−4 ,
well below the forward error correction (FEC) threshold of 2 × 10 −3
required for error-free operation. The high bandwidth of the LD coupled
with high sensitivity APD and optimized operating conditions is the key
enabling factor in obtaining high bit rate transmission in our proposed
system. To the best of our knowledge, this result presents the highest data
rate ever achieved in UWOC systems thus far.
©2015 Optical Society of America
OCIS codes: (010.4455) Oceanic propagation; (060.2605) Free-space optical communication;
(060.4510) Optical communications; (140.2020) Diode lasers; (140.7300) Visible lasers

References and links

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(Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 201–239.

#241274 Received 22 May 2015; revised 19 Jul 2015; accepted 20 Jul 2015; published 30 Jul 2015
(C) 2015 OSA 10 Aug 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 16 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.020743 | OPTICS EXPRESS 20743
13. S. Tang, Y. Dong, and X. Zhang, “Impulse response modeling for underwater wireless optical communication
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(2008).
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IM/DD-OFDM signals through a 4.8 m underwater channel,” Opt. Express 23(2), 1558–1566 (2015).
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characterization and path loss calculation,” Manuscript submitted to IEEE Communications Magazine.

1. Introduction
The motivation for this work stems from the need to demonstrate high data rate and error-free
underwater wireless communication system for practical applications such as real-time video
transmission for oceanography studies, offshore oil exploration, sea floor survey and
monitoring, etc. Currently, acoustic technology is the most widely used underwater wireless
communication method but it suffers from both low bandwidth (2-30 kHz) and high latency
[1]. Also, reliably implementing radio frequency (RF) communication in underwater is
severely limited due to high attenuation (> 150 dB/m at 100 MHz) of RF waves in seawater
[2]. The other method is the fiber optic channel which offers long range and high-bandwidth
underwater communications. However, the fiber optic technology is inadequate for remotely
operated vehicles (ROV) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) because the transmitter
and the receiver have to be physically connected with a cable. Owing to its high bandwidth
and stealthiness, underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) has attracted
considerable attention from scientific, commercial and military communities [3–9] as a
promising alternative or complementary to acoustic and RF techniques. Exploiting the low
absorption window of seawater in blue-green portion of the electromagnetic spectrum,
UWOC is expected to play an important role by offering secure, efficient and high data rate
communications among submarines, unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), ships, divers,
buoys, and underwater sensors within short range (< 100 m). In addition, UWOC can be
utilized to investigate climate change as well as monitor ecological and biogeochemical
changes in the ocean, sea, and lake environments [10,11].
However, the underwater environment is optically very challenging. The propagation of
light in water is affected by attenuation which is a combined effect of absorption and
scattering [12]. Absorption is the process in which the photon energy is lost due to the transfer
of energy during the interaction with water molecules and particles. In scattering, the photons
are scattered away from the initial path after interacting with particulate matter in the water.
The effect of multiple scattering especially in turbid harbor and coastal waters strongly
degrades bit error rate (BER) performance for high data rate UWOC systems with on-off
keying modulation [13]. Therefore, developing a high-speed and long-range underwater
wireless optical communication system is important.
A prior experimental demonstration used an externally modulated laser at 1064 nm,
frequency doubled to 532 nm in a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystal to
establish 1 Gbit/s link in a 2 m water tank [14]. Very recently, Nakamura et al. have
demonstrated optical wireless transmission of 405 nm, 1.45 Gbit/s optical intensity
modulation/direct detection-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (IM/DD-OFDM)
signals through a 4.8 m underwater channel [15]. In this paper, we report on the
demonstration of a record high-speed UWOC link operating at data rates of up to 2.3 Gbit/s
over a 7 m distance using OOK-NRZ modulation scheme. The communication link uses a
TO-9 packaged pigtailed 520 nm LD as the optical transmitter and an avalanche photodiode
(APD) module as the receiver. Performance BER of 2.23 × 10−4 which is well below the FEC
limit of 2 × 10−3 and open eye diagram were successfully achieved. Our system uses OOK,
which is the simplest and most cost-effective modulation technique and outperforms all
previously reported UWOC systems.

#241274 Received 22 May 2015; revised 19 Jul 2015; accepted 20 Jul 2015; published 30 Jul 2015
(C) 2015 OSA 10 Aug 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 16 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.020743 | OPTICS EXPRESS 20744
2. Experimental setup
Figure 1 shows the schematics of the experimental setup used to measure the underwater
transmission of light. The transmitter is a low cost commercially available 15 mW and single
mode pigtailed laser diode (Thorlabs LP520-SF15) with the emission peak wavelength at
around 517 nm at bias voltage of 7.1 V. The water tank is 1 m long with 6 cm × 6 cm optical
windows on each end. The optical path length of the modulated laser light passing through the
tank was extended up to 7 m using reflective mirrors. The tank was filled with coastal water
with an attenuation coefficient of 0.568 m−1 at 517 nm [16]. Compared to an attenuation
coefficient of 450 nm laser of 0.619 m −1, 517 nm green laser is more suitable for low-loss
transmission in coastal waters. It should be noted that the walls inside the water tank were
painted black in order to prevent light from reflecting off. The direct intensity modulated laser
light was collimated by the projection optics of the transmitter and entered the tank through a
window at one end. At the other end of the tank, a high sensitivity silicon APD (Menlo
Systems APD210) receiver with an active diameter of 0.5 mm, responsivity of around 13
A/W at 520 nm and a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 0.4 pW/Hz1/2, was precisely aligned
with the transmitted beam for measuring its power after 7 m of length.

Fig. 1. Experimental setup for underwater transmission measurements: electrical amplifier

(EA), laser diode (LD), variable attenuator (VA), mirror (M1, M2), and avalanche
photodetector (APD).

A variable attenuator and neutral density filters were used to control the intensity level of
the transmitted laser beam. The receiver system included the APD and collection optics. The
collection optics consists of a 50 mm diameter and 75 mm focal length lens. No optical
interference filter was used to suppress the ambient light.
4. Results and discussion
The light-current-voltage characteristics of the LD at 25 °C are shown in Fig. 2(a) in which
the threshold is 50 mA and the peak optical power is around 12 mW at a bias current of 135
mA. The slope efficiency is 16.7%. In Fig. 2(b), we show the optical spectra at 25 °C under
different drive currents measured using an Ocean Optics HR4000 Spectrometer. The spectral
width (full-width at half-maximum) of the laser is around 0.5 nm. The peak emission
wavelength at 60 mA is around 514.5 nm and slightly changes with increasing drive current.

#241274 Received 22 May 2015; revised 19 Jul 2015; accepted 20 Jul 2015; published 30 Jul 2015
(C) 2015 OSA 10 Aug 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 16 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.020743 | OPTICS EXPRESS 20745
 Fig. 2. (a) L-I-V characteristics of the 520 nm LD at 25 °C, (b) optical spectra of the LD at 25
°C with increasing bias currents.

As a figure of merit, the overall frequency response of the system which includes the laser
driver, the LD, the underwater channel, and the photodetector was characterized under
different bias currents and shown in Fig. 3. As clearly seen from the figure, the frequency
response and the modulation bandwidth are dependent on the bias current. Note that as the
bias current level increases, the bandwidth of the LD is extended due to up-shift of its
relaxation oscillation frequency and gain. The maximum 3 dB attenuation occurs around 1.2
GHz, as indicated by the dashed line. The frequency response was measured using a vector
network analyzer and the APD. The APD is capable of measuring up to 1.6 GHz response.

Fig. 3. Overall frequency response of the system at different bias currents. The dashed line
shows the −3 dB attenuation bandwidth which is approximately 1.2 GHz at 125 mA.

Before the underwater high speed transmission measurements, a throughput optimization

of the system was performed by adjusting both the laser DC bias and the modulation signal
amplitude. The highest data rate was achieved when the bias level of the LD and the
modulation depth was set to Vbias = 6.77 V (Ibias = 81 mA) and Vpp = 2.1 V, respectively. The
performance of the UWOC system was analyzed using a high-performance bit error rate tester
(Agilent J-BERT N4903B) and a digital communication analyzer (Agilent DCA-86100C) of
50 GHz bandwidth. A pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS 210-1) OOK-NRZ data stream
was used to modulate the laser. The 210-1 long PRBS pattern is consistent with data pattern
length found in applications such as Gigabit Ethernet and SATA 1 which use 8b/10b and
other related encodings. The OOK-NRZ data was electrically pre-amplified with an ultra-

#241274 Received 22 May 2015; revised 19 Jul 2015; accepted 20 Jul 2015; published 30 Jul 2015
(C) 2015 OSA 10 Aug 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 16 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.020743 | OPTICS EXPRESS 20746
broadband amplifier (Picosecond Pulse Labs, 5865) of 26 dB gain to increase the RF signal
power and improve the extinction ratio (ER). Eye diagrams at 1 Gbit/s and 2.3 Gbit/s
measured using the DCA are shown in Fig. 4. As can be seen from the figure, open eyes are
observed up to 2.3 Gbit/s which confirms the potential of visible LDs for high-speed UWOC
applications. The system could be further optimized to achieve higher data rates. For example,
a preamplifier can be inserted to improve sensitivities, or a photodetector with larger
bandwidth can be used. In addition, the effect of multiple reflection losses could be addressed
by using glass windows with anti-reflection coatings.

Fig. 4. Unfiltered eye diagrams for: (a) 1 Gbit/s and (b) 2.3 Gbit/s at the avalanche photodiode
output.

Figure 5 shows the measured bit error rate (BER) performance versus received optical
power of the UWOC system at 7 m transmission distance when the system data rate varies
from 1.0 Gbit/s to 2.3 Gbit/s. This figure aims to determine the minimum required received
optical power for a certain bit rate. For example, for the 1 Gbit/s, received power of −29 dBm
is required to achieve a BER of 2.23 × 10−4 . When the bit rate increases to 2.3 Gbit/s, a
minimum received power of –14 dBm is required to achieve similar performance. We
attribute this power penalty to the limited bandwidth of the system which is a combination of
limitations imposed by the laser driver and the LD. It can be seen that the BER values are
below 10−9 for data rate up to 1.5 Gbit/s. At 2.3 Gbit/s, the system BER is 2.23 × 10−4 , which
is well below the FEC limit criterion of 2 × 10−3 .

Fig. 5. Measured BER versus received optical power at 1, 1.3, 1.5, 2.15, and 2.3 Gbit/s after a
7 m transmission in underwater.

#241274 Received 22 May 2015; revised 19 Jul 2015; accepted 20 Jul 2015; published 30 Jul 2015
(C) 2015 OSA 10 Aug 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 16 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.020743 | OPTICS EXPRESS 20747
 Fig. 6. Measured BER versus link distance for 1, 2.15 and 2.3 Gbit/s underwater transmission.

Recent numerical study suggests that the effect of multiple scattering in coastal and harbor
waters introduces temporal pulse spread (intersymbol interference) which strongly degrades
the BER performance for high data rate UWOC systems with OOK modulation [13]. We thus
investigated the effect of intersymbol interference (ISI) on the system performance. Figure 6
shows BER versus link distance for various data rates. It should be noted that the received
optical power was kept constant by using a variable attenuator as the link distance was
increased from 1 m to 7 m. As shown in the figure, a relatively flat BER is observed for all
three data rates studied. Note that the BER performance may be degraded when the link
distance increases to 40 m as found in [13]. However, our experimental results suggest that
ISI has no effect on BER performance for high data rate UWOC systems with OOK
modulation for link ranges up to 7 m in coastal waters.
4. Conclusion
In this paper, we have demonstrated a record 2.3 Gbit/s OOK-NRZ underwater wireless
optical communication link over a 7 m distance. The communication system uses a
commercially available TO-9 packaged pigtailed 520 nm LD as the transmitter and an APD
module as the receiver. The LD has a threshold current of 50 mA, a peak wavelength of 520
nm and an output power of 12 mW at 135 mA. At 125 mA bias current, the maximum −3 dB
optical bandwidth is found to be 1.2 GHz. Underwater data transmission experiments were
carried out from 1 to 2.3 Gbit/s using a BERT and a DCA. Open eye diagrams and FEC
compliant BER ( ≤ 2.23 × 10−4 ) results for data rates up to 2.3 Gbit/s were successfully
achieved. The high bandwidth of the LD coupled with high sensitivity APD and optimized
operating conditions enabled the high data rate transmission demonstrated in this study. Our
communication system stands as a simple and cost-effective solution for next-generation high
speed underwater wireless optical links.
Acknowledgment
This work is supported by KAUST baseline funding; KAUST Competitive Center Funding
(Red Sea Research Center), and KACST TIC (Technology Innovation Center) for Solid State
Lighting at KAUST.

#241274 Received 22 May 2015; revised 19 Jul 2015; accepted 20 Jul 2015; published 30 Jul 2015
(C) 2015 OSA 10 Aug 2015 | Vol. 23, No. 16 | DOI:10.1364/OE.23.020743 | OPTICS EXPRESS 20748