A survey of turbulence in underwater optical wireless communications

Underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) represents a burgeoning technology offering high data rates for short-range applications. Recent advancements position it as a promising solution for the future internet of underwater things (IoUT). However, the complexities of underwater environments present significant challenges in establishing reliable UOWC links. Turbulence has been identified as a critical factor, distorting laser beam propagation and consequently impairing UOWC link performance. This survey offers a comprehensive study of recent findings in UOWC under the influence of turbulence, a relatively underexplored area. The first part focuses on turbulence characteristics within the context of UOWC. An extensive literature is provided on modeling turbulence, turbulent channel models, and channel modeling techniques in UOWC. It also explores modeling turbidity in the presence of turbulence and examines the temporal characteristics of UOWC affected by turbulence. The subsequent sections thoroughly discuss the detrimental effects of turbulence and various mitigation techniques. Finally, the survey includes a brief assessment of UOWC systems operating under turbulent conditions. This paper not only presents the status and recent advancements in UOWC under turbulent conditions but also outlines several future research directions aimed at facilitating reliable UOWC deployment in the future IoUT. This survey offers crucial insights for developing integrated photonics specifically designed for UOWC systems functioning in turbulent links. © 2024 Elsevier GmbH