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Underwater Communication

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Encyclopedia of Robotics

Synonyms

Underwater acoustic communications; Underwater acoustic modems; Underwater communication networks; Underwater optical communications; Underwater optical modems

Definition

Underwater communications refer to wireless techniques for sending and receiving data below water. Messages can be transmitted either point to point or through a network of multiple nodes. Nodes can be mobile (e.g., underwater vehicles, autonomous or remotely operated) and/or static (e.g., submerged buoys).

Overview

In any aquatic environment, transmission of electromagnetic waves is limited to ranges of few tens of meters at the best. As a consequence, underwater systems, and marine robots in particular, do not have access to the wealth of communications, ranging, and localization services offered to their aerial and terrestrial counterparts (e.g., satellite positioning, high-bandwidth radio-frequency communications, laser ranging, etc.). The only communication modality that can be used by marine robots with...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DII – Dipartimento di Ingegneria dell’Informazione, Universitá di Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Andrea Caiti

  2. National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, UK

    Andrea Munafò

  3. NATO STO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation, La Spezia, Italy

    Roberto Petroccia

Authors
  1. Andrea Caiti
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  2. Andrea Munafò
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  3. Roberto Petroccia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Caiti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering Blk 1E Gillman Hts #17-43, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Marcelo H Ang

  2. Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Oussama Khatib

  3. Dipto di Informatica e Sistemistca, Univ di Napoli Federico II, Napoli, Italy

    Bruno Siciliano

Section Editor information

  1. University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Cassino, Italy

    Gianluca Antonelli

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Caiti, A., Munafò, A., Petroccia, R. (2020). Underwater Communication. In: Ang, M., Khatib, O., Siciliano, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Robotics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41610-1_14-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41610-1_14-1

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