Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Communication and Electronics Systems (ICCES-2021)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP21AWO-ART; ISBN: 978-0-7381-1405-7
Li-Fi based Data Transmission for Underwater
Communication
Vismaya V Nair Sridhar N
UG Student, Dept. of ECE, Asst.Professor,
CMR Institute of Technology, Dept. of ECE,
Bengaluru, India CMR Institute of Technology,
vivn18ec@cmrit.ac.in Bengaluru, India
nsridhar83@gmail.com
Abstract: Communication imparts a major role in the
survival of mankind. Communication rather than being a
2021 6th International Conference on Communication and Electronics Systems (ICCES) | 978-1-6654-3587-1/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICCES51350.2021.9489200
survival, it is being identified as basic purpose of
understanding between every organism for their safe and
healthy well-being. Earlier Electromagnetic (EM) waves were
used for communication. But later, it was realized that these
waves were less efficient. Here, this research work mainly
focuses on the concept of data transmission. Li-Fi (Light
Fidelity) was new to everyone a decade before, but now it’s one
of the emerging methodologies. The medium selected for data
transmission is water. Unlike Wi-Fi, here the data will be
transmitted without the need of internet and it also opts for
wireless connectivity. The present system utilizes Li-Fi with the
high complexity circuit, which is very inappropriate in their
implementation for underwater communication. Hence, it
necessitates the need to develop a system, which can be cost-
effective as well as reduced area complexity in the
arrangement of such a setup. The main focus of this paper is to
bring up an experimental model which could achieve better
transmission of Data with cost-effectiveness. The Li-Fi
technology for Underwater Communication is proposed to
achieve the expected target. The limiting facto with respect to
the proposed methodology is that the interference of input light
should happen without any disturbance to ensure maximum
transmission.
Keywords- Li-Fi, EM Wave, Underwater Communication,
Visible Light, Wi-Fi, Data transmission, LDR, Arduino.
I.INTRODUCTION
Currently, almost everyone in this world use internet to
accomplish their daily tasks and routines. The last half
decade has been trying to develop acoustic underwater
communication [1]. And various measures have been taken
to improve its efficiency and for its better performance. The
transmission of EM waves is very poor through water
medium. High-speed communication is a challenge due to
limited bandwidth, severe fading and due to the varying
movement of tides or waves. The light sources have high
data transmission in the sea water [2]. The laser light-based
communication with white light is the best suited for high
bandwidth wireless communication. Submerged acoustic
performance is suitable for underwater data transmission.
Looking at the earthly correspondence, submerged
communication has low communication rates as it utilizes
acoustic waves as compared to EM waves [3]. Towards the
end of twentieth century, a few boats conveyed by
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Venkateswaran K
Assc. Professor,
Dept. of ECE,
CMR Institute of Technology,
Bengaluru, India
venkateswaran.k@gmail.com
submerged ringers, the framework being serious with the
crude Maritime radio route administration of the time. The
later Fessenden oscillator permitted correspondence with
submarines [4]. The transmission of data over this
methodology includes some limitations, where the tuning of
the potentiometer has to be observed carefully to ensure
proper data transmission. The need for such a
developmental model is to highlight the system which
mainly is based on the sensors for the betterment of a
communication model [5]. Visible Light Communication
is one among the best technologies in optical wireless
communication [6].
The design and functional flow of the system mainly
focuses on the advancement of wireless communication
possibilities as well as the betterment of these existing
methodologies with higher clarity
II.RELATED WORK
To gather scholarly work related to Underwater
Communication for the transmission of text Data
transmission, many papers have been referred and studied
for survey, out of which few papers were determined on for
final paper. Papers based on acoustic and ultrasound text or
image and sound transmission, both under wireless as well
as wired path were considered.
Every communication needs to be reached to the source for
a purpose. But sometimes it happens that when transmitting
through long paths or when encountered with a channel, it
would come up with noise, which is defined as an unwanted
disturbance in the communication channel causing
interruption in information handling [7]. The art of
Communication began log way back before the invention of
various telephonic inventions [8]. But later we have wired
communication through telephones and then came the
wireless cellular mobile phones. After this, the advent of
keypad mobile phones and the Android phones was so
rapid. Now the technology stands at a place, where
touchscreen to wireless communication even at a place of
great depth can be done even without any glitches [9]. The
best possible way for such a methodology can be set-up
where the technology would meet the demand at a lower
cost-effective manner. And such a method of attaining the
proposed technology is being highlighted in paper with a
simple experimental model. The main limitation of the
existing methodology was the set-up was costlier than the
approach. This paper mainly focuses on the improved and
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 Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Communication and Electronics Systems (ICCES-2021)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP21AWO-ART; ISBN: 978-0-7381-1405-7

simple approach for the communication model which is potentiometer is maintained to accept all the transmitted
capable for underwater communication especially light source. In the proposed technique, we have considered
submarines as well as in the short-term equipment water as the medium through which the data is being
monitoring and its control. communicated to reach the receiving end. The LCD display
The purpose of the paper is to meet the text data acts as a measure of the quality of the data being received,
transmission in a faster and material path independent for us to analyze how well the transmission have occurred
model. The proposed technique can meet the requirement of as well as the transmission rate.
text data transmission with less area requirement and hence
is a better methodology which helped in meeting up the Power
purpose of this paper. However, more studies and research Supply
have to be done to carry out this experiment for a more Transmitter:
compatible environment.
The Li-Fi may mitigates the radio interference problems A
[10] and overcome the drawbacks of the RF based systems R
D
that are made with LED’s and photo diode [11]. Laptop/PC U
As discussed in the abstract, the paper mainly focuses on I
the transmission of text data using Li-Fi model which serves N
to be of high importance where internet and the optic fibers O
for the connectivity of Data are not a need for the
communication to take place [12]. Obviously, in order to
reach out to the areas of rural development, this would be a LED
golden achievement in the up-bringing of such a figure and
to boost up to attain a developed country pouched with
technological growth bringing of such a future and Water
developed country. Medium: Medium
By this Li-Fi model, it is possible to achieve more than
10Gbps, allowing a high-definition film to be downloaded
Light
in less than 30 sec. And the bandwidth is 10,000 times than Receiver
that of radio waves [13]. Receiver:
III.WORKING OF LI-FI DATA TRANSMISSION MODEL
A
Li-Fi is usually picturized using white LED lights at the R
transmitter end. They work by emitting light constantly of D
U LCD
same current at every time unit. The output visualization can I
be changed to various levels by varying these high speeds. N
This property is being utilized in Li-Fi arrangement. The O
operational system consists of a basic set-up, if LED is ON,
the text message is transmitted and vice-versa condition
happens when the LED is turned OFF. The block diagram Power
of the model being discussed in this paper is presented in Supply
Fig.1 and the path being followed to attain the same
Fig.1. Block Diagram of Li-Fi Data Transmission Model
A. Light Transmitter
C. Arduino Microcontroller
The Fig.1. defines the Li-Fi Transmitter (Tx) and Receiver
(Rx) model, which has a pre-intensifier and force enhancer. For the conduction of the experiment, we have used
The pre-intensifier intensifies the voltage adequately. The Arduino Uno, which is a simple microcontroller-based
force enhancer intensifies the current and voltage adequately sensor board on the Microchip ATmega328P and a
and then transmitted through light Tx. The transmitter is developing environment that implements the Processing
shown in the Fig.1. first part where the power supply of 5V language. The board is equipped with sets of digital and
is being connected to the Arduino. The code has been fed to analog input/output pins that may be interfaced to various
the transmitter via a laptop/PC. But the source is led by a expansion boards and other circuits [14]. Some of the
Light emitting device which drives the process of the text applications of Arduino include Vehicle Tracking, IoT
data transmission. based Automation, Accident Detection, Pick and Place
Robotic Arm as well as in the Smart Blind Stick [15]. Also,
B. Light Receiver the medical field have found the maximum usage of these
Arduinos, in heartbeat as well as temperature sensing
At the post water medium, we do have a receiver which can
systems.
receive the data and to be sent to the receiver Arduino. The
Arduino at the receiving end is connected to a supply of 5V. D. LCD
The LDR has low obstruction, and the tuning of

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 Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Communication and Electronics Systems (ICCES-2021)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP21AWO-ART; ISBN: 978-0-7381-1405-7
As discussed in the Light Receiver part, the medium or the
method by which we can analyze and say that the data that
we have transmitted have been reached the receiver end is
only by observing the display on the Liquid Crystal Display.
The LCD that we have used for this experimentation is
a16X2 display.
The details given above is about the key elements
involved in the experimental model where they are required
for the setup. Also, the visible light and its interference has
to be taken care with high priority [16], [17]. A keen
observation on the tuning of the potentiometer is more
important to receive the actual data which has been sent.
The flowchart below indicates the path by which the text
data transmission is being carried out. Each bit of the data
transmitted from the transmitter follows this path.
Clients Text Information
Transmitter LED
Arduino as an Information Processing
Unit
Water Medium
LDR Sensor receives Visible White
Light Pulse
Arduino for converting Light Pulse into
data
Receiver with possible data fetch and
measurement of its Intensity & Distance
Received Information on LCD Display
Fig.2. Flow diagram of the Proposed Li-Fi Underwater Communication.
IV.LI-FI UNDERWATER COMMUNICATION PROTOTYPE
The Fig.3. is a representation of how the model would be
presented for a communication or text data transmission for
a shorter distance.
A. Experimental Setup
Client sends the message through Laptop or PC, which
means that the text data is being typed from the transmitter
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end. Here, the visible white light acts as an agent to carry
forward the transmitted message or information.
The prescribed set-up is capable of transferring the data or
message approximately to a distance of 5cm.
PC LCD
LCD
Source LCD
LCD
Destination
Fig.3. Pictorial representation of the model set-up for transferring text data
by Li-Fi technology.
As specified, in the Flow diagram in Fig.2, water is the
medium used to transmit the data. For Underwater
communication, we do require an eminent and efficient
powerful source which could carry this information over
this water medium having a density of 997 kg/m3.
Fig.4. Experimental set-up of Li-Fi Underwater Communication Model
The experimental set-up is shown in Fig.4, which is
basically responsible for the transmission and receiving of
the data via water medium. In the circuit design, placement
of LDR on the breadboard, attachment of resistor to the leg
of LDR, Arduino pin connections and grounding has been
taken care along with the proper insulation of circuit
components for better accuracy and protection. A near Line-
of-sight is considered in our transmission system, because it
is a vital factor when Li-Fi Technology is used. The data is
being typed from the input end through a Laptop/PC
wherein the input Arduino with the help of Visible Light
(VL) transmits the data being sent from the input end. The
text data is then being processed to be sent through the
water medium, then can consider this kind of text data
transmission as Underwater Communication.
Further extending the procedure, we have LED as the VL
source which helps in transmitting the data. Note that the
interference or diffraction of Light does not occur to prevent
the efficiency of the transmission. It’s quite challenging
with this set-up to transmit the data but eventually, could
927
 Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Communication and Electronics Systems (ICCES-2021)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP21AWO-ART; ISBN: 978-0-7381-1405-7

perform it by overcoming the obstacles and the
circumstances which were found to be the prime reason for
interruptions. In order to ensure that the method adopted is
secure, need to have a rough manual calculation of the
approximate distance by which the data is transmitted and
also the intensity by which the data is being received. The
output is observed on the 16x2 LCD display.
The hardware setup required to establish this mode is one of
the cheapest as well as the finest methods by which our
motive of underwater communication is achieved, is being
set-up, here in this work.
V. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
A. Simulation Result
The graphical representation gives a clear picture of how the
data transmitted is fading as it gets farther from the
transmitting source to receiving end and is being shown in
Fig. 5.
Following are some of the observations made while
conducting this experiment and have been penned down:
 For a distance of about 0-1.5 cm the text data was
clearly visible with an intensity of about 60%.
 Later on, at a distance of 2 cm, it was observed that the
message was visible where the efficiency of the
received data was approximately 90%, but the intensity
was dropped lightly by approximately 50%.
 Approximately at distance of 3.5 cm the clarity of data
being displayed on the output LDR starts decreasing
exponentially and drops drastically to about 25%.
 Gradually, this trend has been observed in the decrease
of the visibility of the message. Nearly, at about 5cm
the visibility is partial, where the intensity of received
message was found to be less than 10%.
 As the distance increase even by a small range, it is
being reflected on the output LDR and hence the
visibility becomes almost nil, which can be
approximated to be very negligible and as low as less
than 0.05%.
 Further a state may reach where no data is being visible
at the output LDR.
Table1. Status of Text data transmission over Distance.

Sl.no Distance Intensity Remarks

(cm) (%)
01 0.5 60 Clearly Visible
02 1 58 Clearly Visible
03 1.5 57.5 Clearly Visible
04 2 49.7 Visible
05 3.5 25.4 Visibility decreases exponentially
06 5 <10 Partially Visible
07 5.8 <4 Almost Invisible
08 6.2 <0.05 No Data Visible in the Output LDR
Fig.5. Graphical representation of the transmission of Data Versus.
Intensity of the Data transmission. The approximate distance by which the data transfer is
This graph establishes a relationship between two possible, and it being fetched up at the receiver end is
parameters which has intensity along the y-axis and distance approximately estimated to be 5 centimetres (cm). However,
along the x-axis. The y-axis parameter is measured in this setup presents an idea of how communication is
percentage which indicates the percent of information being possible in a much simpler in terms of the set-up as well as
transmitted during the procedure. The x-axis measures the an eminent manner.
distance in centimeters (cm) by which the data received is
VI.CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE
being read at the receiver end. The pink extended line is an
extension of how intensely the data processes as it reaches Remote communication or submerged water underwater
farther distance. The blue bar line indicates the depth of the communication by using visible white light transmits the
water medium for message transmission. The probable information or text data instantly. The time needed to
reason for the interruption of text transmission can be noise achieve the result is just a jiffy. Here, in this paper, we have
in the form of sound waves before reaching the water given our prime focus on the text data transmission wherein
surface. Also, the next probable reason for the disturbance is the visible light is responsible for carrying out this data to
water waves. the output LDR. The intensity of text data transmission over
distance is measured and estimated the approximate distance
B. Discussion of possible data transfer with the status of visibility. The Li-
More calculative analysis has been done to achieve a better Fi Technology uses Light for transmitting data through
understanding about the transmission and also providing illumination using LED whose intensity varies faster than at
some valid status of how well the data has been reached at radio frequencies, so it incurs minimal interference
the destination with their probable intensities by which it is compared to that of Wi-Fi protocol.
being received at the destination. The future scope focuses on all the transmissions being able
to reach a farther distance by eliminating the pre-existing

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 Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Communication and Electronics Systems (ICCES-2021)
IEEE Xplore Part Number: CFP21AWO-ART; ISBN: 978-0-7381-1405-7

limitations encountered while conducting research about the International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT),
California, 2006.
text data transmission. The extension of this research also
[17] Lih Chieh Png and Kiat Seng Yeo, “Foundations of Visible Light
leads to Li-Fi communication applied for telepresence Communication Circuits”, Academia, American Scientific publication,
robotics. The transmission of secure and bulk information Advanced Science Result, 2016.
can be shared by Li-Fi where secrecy of project can be
maintained. Further, audio, image and video can also be
transmitted using the same set-up with minor changes such
as use of solar cell for audio message transmission and
MATLAB software simulation platform for image
processing. More developments and research can be made to
remodify the existing model so that the distance by which
this data is received can be preferably increased.

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