Advanced Underwater Communications
The Ministry of Oceans & Fisheries of South Korea announced on May 22 that it succeeded in carrying out two-way communications over a distance of 30 km at a water depth of 100 m. The previous world record was 12 km.
The experiment is a part of the ministry’s project for the development of an underwater wide-area mobile communication system, which was initiated in 2012. The purpose of the project is to develop underwater wireless communication technology required for the development of marine resources, underwater orientation and so on.
The experiment was conducted on April 29 to May 3 this year with modems installed near Jeju Island. Digital signal transmission and reception based on sound waves were carried out without any distortion as a result.
Under the sea, only limited communications can be performed by means of nothing but sound waves because light-wave and electromagnetic communications are impossible there. The ministry is planning to refine its long-range underwater communication technology based on the outcome of the experiment. Its goal is to realize, within four years, stable exchange of not only text information but also voice and image information between divers, underwater robots, etc.