Can you imagine life on dial-up? That’s the reality for wireless networks in the ocean. Electr
Can you imagine life on dial-up? That’s the reality for wireless networks in the ocean. Electromagnetic waves, like the ones used for radio communications, don’t travel very well in the ocean. That’s why sound has become the preferred mode of underwater communication for humans and animals alike. Or course, the ocean is a difficult environment, and the “underwater internet” has a lot of limitations. There’s doppler shift (changes in frequency caused by motion), multipath (signals bouncing off the ocean surface and seafloor), path loss, and an ever increasing background of noise, not to mention that sound just travels slower than radio waves. All of this adds up to a problem that engineers are always working hard to solve. One notable group working on this problem can be found at the University at Buffalo. They’ve deployed underwater modems using TCP/IP, the protocol that’s the backbone of the internet, and have recently adapted smart radio, a method used for adaptively changing frequency bands, to help improve data transmission rates for underwater communication. And just like how broadband communication has revolutionized technology on land, these steps could help realize a new future in underwater exploration and technology. (Photo credit University at Buffalo) -- source link
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