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Enhancing of underwater wireless optical communication system based on single photon detector

  • Mazin Ali A. Ali , Mustafa Bahaaldin Hayif ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Abdulrahman Bilal Ali , Muna B. Aldeen and Yasser Yassin Khudair
Published/Copyright: December 18, 2025
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Abstract

This work investigates a simulation model of an underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) system. Several water scenarios are considered: Harbor I (HA-I), Harbor II (HA-II), Coastal Ocean (CO), Clear Ocean (CL), and Pure Sea (PU). A laser diode (LD) with modulation schemes (NRZ-OOK) transmits data at various speeds of 2.5 Gbps, 5 Gbps, and 10 Gbps. To identify the optical signal, a single-photon detection (SPD), APD and PIN photodiodes are utilized. The analytical evaluation of the performance is executed using Q-factor, received power and bit error rate (BER). According to the results, the PU achieved an underwater distance of 35.5 m, 35 m, 34.5 m, for data transmitted 2.5, 5 and 10 Gbps by SPD detector in succession with a Q-factor of 5.4 dB. The APD and PIN photodiodes acquired the distance less than the SPD detector. The APD and PIN photodetectors can detect the received signal under water type PU at 28 m and 23 m, respectively. The comparatively positive outcome indicates that a system utilizing single-photon detection (SPD) and an NRZ-OOK modulation method holds promise for long-distance underwater optical communication with high bandwidth.


Corresponding author: Mustafa Bahaaldin Hayif, Remote Sensing Unit, College of Science, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mustansiriyah University/College of Science for supporting this work in the physics department labs.

  1. Research ethics: Not applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not applicable.

  3. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

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

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

  6. Research funding: None declared.

  7. Data availability: The data used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Received: 2025-09-18
Accepted: 2025-11-29
Published Online: 2025-12-18

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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