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I need to make shallow (max 2m) underwater wireless sensor network. Data payload is about 10kB/s. I know that VLF band (~3-30kHz)could be the best solutions for that, but cause of time-to-market I cannot make hardware and software from the ground.

Maybe someone could share own-self experience in this filed.
If band 100-900MHz could be enough to send 10kB/s from one device to another - from 2m underwater to over a dozen cm from water surface?
Maybe some IC for ultrasonic communication exist?
Another ideas?

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  • $\begingroup$ Talk to the scuba diving people. Talk to the model Submarine people. Consider having a base station out of the water if using radio that will have more power, sensitivity and antennas to reach any roving device that may have less water to the air than between devices. $\endgroup$ – KalleMP Apr 7 '15 at 15:54
  • $\begingroup$ Can you describe the network more? How many nodes, and do you need the communication to be entirely underwater or are you relaying to surface nodes via short-range RF? $\endgroup$ – Ian May 15 '15 at 13:48
  • $\begingroup$ Also, is the water 2m deep, or are you just talking about being 2m below the surface in an area of much deeper water? The biggest challenge in shallow water acoustic networking is the multipath, and 10kB/s is near the high end of what the industry had as of a year or two ago. Under perfect conditions (vertical transmission, not horizontal) you might find something. $\endgroup$ – Ian Oct 9 '15 at 21:37
  • $\begingroup$ Welcome to robotics Tom33, but I'm afraid that Unbounded Design Questions are off-topic because there are many ways to solve any given design problem, so questions that ask for a list of approaches or a subjective recommendation on a method (for how to build something, how to accomplish something, what something is capable of, etc.) are off-topic. $\endgroup$ – Chuck♦ May 6 '16 at 12:30
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There are plenty of solutions for underwater communication. Here is an example - http://www.dspcomm.com/products_aquacomm.html

You can also make one using underwater radios that divers use to communicate. Perhaps coupling a pair of them with a voice modem to keep them in the right frequency range might do the trick. Here is an example of a diver comm http://www.scuba.com/US/scuba-gear-168/131893/Ocean-Reef-GSM-G.divers-Wireless-Diver-Communication-Unit.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwjKOpBRChjsTyicbFy3QSJADP1gTNEDQ5dheaIjcUQWq4ouOJgy7uYA8azzrWg5KCf6PPrhoCrRbw_wcB

One of the problems you may encounter when designing or choosing a system is that high frequency which is necessary for high bandwidth communication is more prone to attenuation in water especially salt water. You maybe limited to some few hundred feet range with Ghz range. There are acoustic modems that use sonic waves to communicate which have longer range but do not have a decent bandwidth.

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