KAUST Researchers Use Lasers to Bring the Internet Under the Sea

Fascinating … underwater Internet.

“I didn’t say I liked it. I said it fascinated me. There is a great difference.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, have developed a way to use lasers to bring the internet under the sea.

As a recent item from IEEE Spectrum (22 Jun 2020) details …

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Communicating underwater has always been a hassle. Radio transmissions, the ubiquitous wireless standard above the waves, can’t transmit very far before being entirely absorbed by the water. Acoustic transmissions (think sonar) are the preferred choice underwater, but they suffer from very low data rates. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all just have Wi-Fi underwater instead?

Underwater Wi-Fi is exactly what researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, have developed. The system, which they call Aqua-Fi, uses a combination of lasers and off-the-shelf components to create a bi-directional wireless connection for underwater devices. The system is fully compliant with  IEEE 802.11 wireless standards, meaning it can easily connect to and function as part of the broader Internet.
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Read the full account at …
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/internet/researchers-lasers-bring-internet-underwater

TIP: Google® KAUST aqua-fi for more tidbits on this intriguing technology.

KAUST, by the way, is a fascinating enterprise located in a country that many Westerners consider to be somewhat behind the curve in scientific research. Visit https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en to explore for more.

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Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

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