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JCM 2025 Vol.20(2): 141-152
Doi: 10.12720/jcm.20.2.141-152

Optimizing Underwater Communication via Integrating OFDM, FSO, and Fiber Optics in a Heterogeneous Networks Environments

Satea H. Alnajjar* and Mahmood J. Ahmad
Network Engineering and Cybersecurity Department, College of Engineering, Al-Iraqia University, Baghdad, Iraq
Email: sateaahn@gmail.com (S.H.A.); mahmood.j.ahmad@aliraqia.edu.iq (M.J.A.)
*Corresponding author

Manuscript received January 2, 2025; revised February 7, 2025, accepted February 17, 2025; published March 20, 2025.

Abstract—This investigation presents a contemporary approach that strategies reducing the challenges associated with underwater communication in terms of extending data transfer speed and signal quality. Minimizing these obstacles via combining Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) as an approach to data transmission with cuttingedge technologies in hybrid networks that use Non-Line-Of- Sight (NLOS) Underwater Wireless Optical Communication (UWOC), besides Free-Space Optical (FSO) and optical fibre as a connection channel between terrestrial networks and underwater platforms. Using OFDM between 7.5 and 2.4 GHz for UWOC and Wi-Fi for water’s surface platforms demonstrates a method to improve the overall spectrum usage and expand the wireless communication ability for both water’s surface platforms and the underwater scenarios. The system performance behavior has been improved by using multiple-path underwater NLOS channels with amplifiers, achieving a receiving depth of 30 meters in the coastal ocean and 80 meters in the Clear Ocean at 3.7E-22 Bit Error Rate (BER) at 1 Gbit/s. The heterogeneous network proposal leverages the strengths of each technology capability while offering high data rates, robustness, and flexibility, essential for a variety of applications in marine research, underwater robotics, and wireless communications.



Keywords—Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing/Free-Space Optical/Freedom Online Coalition (OFDM/FSO/FOC), Underwater Optical Wireless Communications (UOWC), multiple NLOS, atmospheric attenuation


Cite: Satea H. Alnajjar and Mahmood J. Ahmad, “Optimizing Underwater Communication via Integrating OFDM, FSO, and Fiber Optics in a Heterogeneous Networks Environments," Journal of Communications, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 141-152, 2025.

Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).