# High-Performance Time-Code Diversity Scheme for Shore-to-Sea Maritime Visible-Light Communication

• Kim, Hyeongji ;
• Sewaiwar, Atul ;
• Chung, Yeon-Ho
• Accepted : 2015.09.02
• Published : 2015.10.25
• 38 25

#### Abstract

This paper presents a novel shore-to-sea maritime data transmission system based on time-code diversity, using visible light in maritime environments to overcome the limitations of conventional maritime wireless communications. The proposed system is primarily comprised of existing LED-based lighthouses and maritime transceivers (marine beacons, buoys, etc.), and thus is considered cost-effective in terms of implementation. We first analyze maritime visible-light communications on the basis of the unique properties of a maritime environment, i.e. sea states (wave height, wind speed, etc.), plus atmospheric turbulence, using the Pierson-Moskowitz (PM) and JONSWAP (JS) spectrum models. It is found that the JS model outperforms the PM model, and that the coverage distance depends on the LED power and sea states. To combat maritime fading conditions that significantly degrade performance and coverage distance, we propose a time-code diversity (TCD) scheme in which the delayed versions of the original data are retransmitted using orthogonal Walsh codes. This TCD scheme is found to be superior, in that it offers three orders of magnitude in terms of BER performance, compared to a conventional (non-TCD) transmission scheme. The proposed scheme is robust and efficient in overcoming the effect of impairments present in maritime environments with a BER of approximately $10^{-5}$and a data rate of 100 Kbps at a distance of 1 km.

#### Keywords

Maritime communication;VLC;Time-code diversity;Pierson-Moskowitz model;JONSWAP model

#### References

1. B. Nora, J. Storgard, and J. Lappalainen, "The impact of ship crews on maritime safety," Publications of the Centre for Maritime Studies, University of Turku, A64 (2013).
2. IALA, "The IALA definition and vision for e-Navigation," E-NAV2-output, 11 (2007).
3. J. S. Pathmasuntharam, P. Y. Kong, M. T. Zhou, Y. Ge, H. Wang, C. W. Ang, W. Su, and H. Harada, "TRITON: high speed maritime mesh networks," in Proc. IEEE 19th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (Palais des Festivals Cannes, France, Sep. 2008), pp. 1-5.
4. ESA Telecommunication & Integrated Applications, available at http://telecom.esa.int.
5. P. P. Han, A. Sewaiwar, S. V. Tiwari, and Y. H. Chung, "Color-clustered multiple-input multiple-output visible light communication," J. Opt. Soc. Korea 19, 74-79 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3807/JOSK.2015.19.1.074
6. H. J. Kim, A. Sewaiwar, and Y. H. Chung, "Shore-to-sea maritime communication with visible light transmission," Recent Advances in Electrical Engineering Series 39, 68-71 (2014).
7. H. J. Kim, A. Sewaiwar, and Y. H. Chung, "Maritime visible light communication with sea spectrum models," International Journal of Communications 9, 73-76 (2015).
8. G. Cossu, R. Corsini, A. M. Khalid, S. Balestrino, A. Coppelli, A. Caiti, and E. Ciaramella, "Experimental demonstration of high speed underwater visible light communications," in Proc. The 2013 2nd International Workshop on Optical Wireless Communications (Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, Oct. 2013), pp. 11-15.
9. Lighthouse Sub Project VLCC, available at http://www.vlcc.net.
10. K. Lee and H. Park, "Modulations for visible light communications with dimming control," IEEE Photon. Technol. Lett. 23, 1136-1138 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1109/LPT.2011.2157676
11. L. H. Holthuijsen, Waves in Oceanic and Coastal Waters (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2007).
12. D. E. Hasselmann, M. Dunckel, and J. A. Ewing, "Directional wave spectra observed during JONSWAP 1973," Journal of Physical Oceanography 10, 1264-1280 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0485(1980)010<1264:DWSODJ>2.0.CO;2
13. Sea States, available at http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/279AC7ED-E09D-4E2A-A884-57321EA46B24/Met%20101%20Chapter%203%20Eng.pdf.
14. K. D. Ward, C. J. Baker, and S. Watts, "Maritime surveillance radar. Part 1: Radar scattering from the ocean surface," IEE Proceedings F 137, 51-62 (1990).
15. R. L. Phillips and L. C. Andrews, "Universal statistical model for irradiance fluctuations in a turbulent medium," J. Opt. Soc. Am. 72, 864-870 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1364/JOSA.72.000864
16. Y. H. Kim and Y. H. Chung, "Experimental outdoor visible light data communication system using differential decision threshold with optical and color filters," Opt. Eng. 54, 040501 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.54.4.040501
17. W. O. Popoola, Z. Ghassemlooy, J. I. H. Allen, E. Leitgeb, and S. Gao, "Free-space optical communication employing subcarrier modulation and spatial diversity in atmospheric turbulence channel," IET Optoelectronics 2, 16-23 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1049/iet-opt:20070030
18. S3584 Series ($2.8\;{\times}\;2.8\;cm^2$) Datasheet, available at http://www.hamamatsu.com/eu/en/product/category/3100/4001/4103/S3584-08/index.html.

#### Cited by

1. Shore-to-Undersea Visible Light Communication 2017, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-017-5136-9