Abstract:

Today we are witnessing a growing need to high-rate data transmission in underwater missions in a wide range of application areas. In particular, with the increasing use of robotics in underwater missions and the recent advances in the design and development of AUVs, there is an urgent need for broadband underwater links.  Recently, visible light communications have received particular attention due to their potential in providing very high-rate data transmission. In the challenging underwater context, the major impairments of the communication link include high beam attenuation, especially in high turbidity waters, and link misalignments. We provide an overview on VLC systems in underwater environments and explain the main considerations on the impact of the underwater channel and the transmission schemes. We present the current research activities in Fresnel Institute and also some future research directions for improving the performance and reliability of these links.

Short biography:

Dr. Ali Khalighi is an Associate Professor in École Centrale Marseille and head of “Telecommunications and Antenna Processing” in Fresnel Institute research lab. His main research areas of interest include signal processing for wireless communication systems with an emphasis on the physical layer aspects of free-space, underwater, and indoor visible-light optical communications. So far he has served as the Technical Program Committee member for more than 20 international conferences and workshops in the communications area. Also, he was the Vice Chair of WG2 of the FP7 IC1101 COST Action on optical wireless communications. Dr. Khalighi is the recipient of the Scientific Excellence Award from the French Ministry of Research and Higher Education for the period of 2009–2017.