Real-Time and High-Speed Underwater Photon-Counting Communication Based on SPAD and PPM Symbol Synchronization

Jun Huang; Changkun Li; Jiansheng Dai; Rong Shu; Liang Zhang; Jianyu Wang

doi:10.1109/JPHOT.2021.3113659

IEEE Photonics Journal (Jan 2021)

Real-Time and High-Speed Underwater Photon-Counting Communication Based on SPAD and PPM Symbol Synchronization

Jun Huang,
Changkun Li,
Jiansheng Dai,
Rong Shu,
Liang Zhang,
Jianyu Wang

Affiliations

Jun Huang: ORCiD; Key Laboratory of Space Active Opto-Electronic Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Changkun Li: Key Laboratory of Space Active Opto-Electronic Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Jiansheng Dai: Key Laboratory of Space Active Opto-Electronic Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Rong Shu: Key Laboratory of Space Active Opto-Electronic Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Liang Zhang: ORCiD; Key Laboratory of Space Active Opto-Electronic Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Jianyu Wang: Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Key Laboratory of Space Active Opto-Electronic Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JPHOT.2021.3113659
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 5
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

Read online

Photon-counting detectors can increase the range of underwater optical wireless communication (UWOC) by enhancing the detection sensitivity and have thus become an active research area in recent years. However, system performance still needs to be improved in the reported underwater photon-counting communication (UPCC) experiments. In this study, a real-time, high-speed UPCC system was designed and experimentally validated based on a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD). A reliable symbol synchronization method based on pulse-position modulation (PPM) was developed. This method achieved slot synchronization by using a narrow-pulse-width laser and a simple matched filter and realizes frame synchronization through an improved synchronization sequence. In addition, channel errors were corrected by serially concatenated convolutionally coded PPM (SCPPM), and digital signals were processed in real time based on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Finally, desktop communication experiments were completed at a slot frequency of 25 MHz and a communication rate of 6.21 Mbps. The system exhibited a bit error rate (BER) of less than 10–7, a received optical power of only −84.3 dBm, and an efficiency of 1.35 photons per bit.

Published in IEEE Photonics Journal

ISSN: 1943-0655 (Online)
Publisher: IEEE
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General): Applied optics. Photonics; Science: Physics: Optics. Light
Website: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=4563994

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords