Performance Analysis of UAV-Assisted RF-UOWC Systems

TL;DR

This paper analyzes a UAV-assisted hybrid RF-UOWC system, proposing a relay-based solution with best relay selection, and derives outage probability expressions to evaluate performance under different channel conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a relay-assisted architecture with best relay selection for RF-UOWC systems and provides analytical outage probability expressions for performance assessment.

Findings

Outage probability expressions are derived for the system.

Performance varies with different RF and UOWC channel conditions.

The proposed model enables performance evaluation of UAV-assisted RF-UOWC links.

Abstract

This paper introduces a relay-assisted solution for downlink communications in a mixed system of Radio Frequency (RF) and Underwater Optical Wireless Communications (UOWC) technologies. During the initial downlink phase, data transmission occurs via RF link between hovering Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and the floating buoys at the water surface. As fixed buoy acts as amplify-and-forward relays, the second UOWC link represents downlink signal transmission from the floating buoy to the underwater device. Best relay selection is adopted, meaning that only the buoy with the best estimated RF-based UAV-buoy channel will perform signal transmission to an underwater device. Analytical expression for the outage probability is derived and utilized to examine the system's performance behaviour for various UOWC and RF channel conditions.