IEEE Spectrum June 22, 2020
Researchers in Saudi Arabia have developed underwater WiFi which they call Aqua-Fi. The system is fully compliant with IEEE 802.11 wireless standards. A Wi-Fi signal was used to connect the device to a Raspberry Pi functioning as a modem. The modem converted the wireless signal to an optical signal (in this case, a laser) that was beamed to the receiver attached to a surface buoy. From there, established communications techniques were used to send the signal to an orbiting satellite. For the underwater device to receive data, the process is simply reversed. The system is limited by the capabilities of the Raspberry Pi. When they upgraded to blue and green lasers, they achieved 2.11 megabits per second over 20 meters. They are working to solve the laser alignment issues…read more.
The Aqua-Fi system uses a Wi-Fi connection to wirelessly connect a device to a Raspberry Pi, which converts the signal into a laser to be beamed to a relay on the water’s surface. Credit: KAUST