A Survey of Underwater Wireless Communication Technologies

Abstract

The increasing exploitation of natural resources under water, particularly in the sea, has ignited the development of many technological advances in the domains of environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, warfare, among others. In all these domains, underwater wireless communications play an important role, where the technologies available rely on radio-frequency, optical, and acoustic transmissions. This paper surveys key features inherent to these communication technologies, putting into perspective their technical aspects, current research challenges, and to-be-explored potential. In the end we list several technical challenges that are addressed with the aid of signal processing tools.