Kyocera SLD Laser has announced a breakthrough Underwater Wireless Optical Communication (UWOC) technology that achieves short‑range data transmission at 5.2 Gbps, positioning it among the fastest fiberless UWOC systems demonstrated to date.
Core innovation
Kyocera’s UWOC system converts digital data streams into laser light using a proprietary physical (PHY) layer and custom optical front-end circuitry optimized for underwater conditions. The company reports expanding underwater communication bandwidth to beyond 1 GHz, allowing significantly more information to be transmitted in the same timeframe than with conventional underwater optical links.
By leveraging optical semiconductor components and a wideband front-end, the system attains data rates roughly 2.5 times higher than typical underwater optical communication technologies. This enables near real-time transmission of high-resolution video, large sensor datasets, and other bandwidth-intensive content, addressing the limitations of traditional acoustic underwater communication, which is generally constrained to only a few Mbps.
Application context
The development targets the growing use of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), drones, and robots for marine surveys, infrastructure inspection, and resource exploration. With higher-speed links, operators can gain immediate access to live video feeds, detailed imagery, and multi-sensor data, improving control responsiveness and operational efficiency in underwater missions.
Kyocera anticipates applications in real-time sharing of high-definition AUV video, high-precision inspection of underwater structures, rapid collection of large research datasets, and simultaneous connectivity for multiple underwater sensors. The company expects that further increasing communication distance and capacity could help build next-generation marine ICT infrastructure and accelerate innovation in both industry and marine science.
CES 2026 exhibition
The UWOC technology was showcased last week at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, January 6–9, 2026, at Kyocera’s booth in the Vehicle Tech & Advanced Mobility Zone, West Hall, booth #6501. Alongside UWOC, Kyocera also exhibited AI-based depth sensors, millimeter-wave sensors, phased array antenna modules, and related technologies aimed at enabling safer autonomous driving.
More information is available here.
Image above: Kyocera SLD Laser’s Ultra High-Speed Underwater Wireless Optical Communication (UWOC) Technology. Courtesy of Kyocera SLD Laser.
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