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An optical network emulation framework for underwater communication using AFDM

  • Arun Kumar ORCID logo , A.R. Aswatha ORCID logo , Kalpana AB , Ch. Raja , Sumit Chakravarty and Aziz Nanthaamornphong ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: December 16, 2025
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Abstract

This paper integrates optical communication concepts with advanced modulation by combining the Mininet-based underwater wireless optical communication (Mininet-UWOC) emulator and affine frequency division multiplexing (AFDM). The study aims to enhance underwater optical communication efficiency by analyzing signal reliability, throughput, and Doppler effects under realistic optical channel conditions. While AFDM demonstrates strong performance in terrestrial optical systems with Doppler variations, its benefits are reduced in underwater environments due to scattering and absorption losses. The findings highlight AFDM’s limitations in underwater optical communication and emphasize the need for optimized modulation techniques for reliable optical links.


Corresponding author: Aziz Nanthaamornphong, College of Computing, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket, Thailand E-mail:

  1. Research ethics: Not Applicable.

  2. Informed consent: Not Applicable.

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

  4. Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: Not Applicable.

  5. Conflict of interest: The authors state no conflict of interest.

  6. Research funding: Not Applicable.

  7. Data availability: Not Applicable.

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Received: 2025-11-10
Accepted: 2025-11-29
Published Online: 2025-12-16

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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