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A comprehensive review on underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) systems: present and future prospective

  • Vivek Arya ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 8, 2025
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Abstract

Underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) is a compelling technology for a small, high-speed, and cost-effective underwater communication solution due to its low latency, high bandwidth, and enhanced security attributes. UWOC is a widely accepted technology in several maritime industrial services, significantly contributing to the early detection of floods, tsunamis, natural calamities, real-time data streaming, and military/naval tactical operations. Thus, in this work, a comprehensive review on UWOC systems is studied considering the impact of path loss owing to water turbulence, misalignment, and attenuation effects. A deep study of existing work, its architecture, challenges, applications, and future scope is illustrated. This study realized that UWOC scenarios can be regarded as a substitute to fulfill the need of high throughput and huge data communications like imaging, video transmission, real-time, high-speed sensor networks, etc.


Corresponding author: Vivek Arya, Department of ECE, UIE, Chandigarh University, Mohali-140413, Punjab, India, E-mail:

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: The author has accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.

  5. Conflict of interest: The author states no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: None declared.

  7. Data availability: The raw data can be obtained on request from the corresponding author.

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Received: 2025-05-28
Accepted: 2025-06-19
Published Online: 2025-07-08

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 22.9.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/joc-2025-0211/html
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