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Low-Altitude Agentic Networks for Optical Wireless Communication and Sensing: An Oceanic Scenario

Tianqi Mao, Jiayue Liu, Zeping Sui, Leyu Cao, Xiao Liang, Dezhi Zheng, Zhaocheng Wang

Abstract

The cross-domain oceanic connectivity ranging from underwater to the sky has become increasingly indispensable for a plethora of data-consuming maritime applications, such as maritime meteorological monitoring and offshore exploration. However, broadband implementations can be severely hindered by the isolation from terrestrial networks, limited satellite resources, and the fundamental inability of radio waves to bridge the water-air interface at high rates. To this end, this paper introduces an optical network bridging underwater, air and near space, which features a number of cooperative low-altitude platforms (LAPs), serving as compute-capable, sensing-aware, and mission-adaptive agents. The network architecture consists of three scenario-specific segments, i.e., water-air direct link, low-altitude mesh network, and the near-space access network. With coordinate sensing and intelligent control, the system tightly couples beam tracking and resource optimization, enabling resilient networking under high mobility and harsh maritime dynamics. Furthermore, we review enabling technologies spanning from water-air channel modeling, adaptive beam alignment under sea-surface perturbations, to swarm-intelligence networking for decentralized control, integrated pose-topology planning, and optical Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) for near-space target detection and beam alignment. Finally, open issues are also highlighted, constituting a clear roadmap toward scalable, secure, and ultra-broadband oceanic optical networks.

Low-Altitude Agentic Networks for Optical Wireless Communication and Sensing: An Oceanic Scenario

Abstract

The cross-domain oceanic connectivity ranging from underwater to the sky has become increasingly indispensable for a plethora of data-consuming maritime applications, such as maritime meteorological monitoring and offshore exploration. However, broadband implementations can be severely hindered by the isolation from terrestrial networks, limited satellite resources, and the fundamental inability of radio waves to bridge the water-air interface at high rates. To this end, this paper introduces an optical network bridging underwater, air and near space, which features a number of cooperative low-altitude platforms (LAPs), serving as compute-capable, sensing-aware, and mission-adaptive agents. The network architecture consists of three scenario-specific segments, i.e., water-air direct link, low-altitude mesh network, and the near-space access network. With coordinate sensing and intelligent control, the system tightly couples beam tracking and resource optimization, enabling resilient networking under high mobility and harsh maritime dynamics. Furthermore, we review enabling technologies spanning from water-air channel modeling, adaptive beam alignment under sea-surface perturbations, to swarm-intelligence networking for decentralized control, integrated pose-topology planning, and optical Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) for near-space target detection and beam alignment. Finally, open issues are also highlighted, constituting a clear roadmap toward scalable, secure, and ultra-broadband oceanic optical networks.
Paper Structure (21 sections, 4 figures)

This paper contains 21 sections, 4 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Network Architecture
  3. Network Structure
  4. Underwater-Air Direct Optical Link
  5. inter-LAP Network
  6. Near-Space-Air Transmission
  7. Critical Technologies
  8. Water-Air OWC Channel Modeling
  9. Beam Alignment Technology for Water-Air Link
  10. Swarm Intelligence Enabled Networking
  11. Integrated Pose-Topology Network Planning
  12. Free-Space Optical Integrated Sensing and Communication
  13. Future Research and Open Challenges
  14. Optical Wireless Channel Modeling
  15. Water-Air OWC Channel
  16. ...and 6 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Network architecture of the LAWN-centric near-space-air-ground-sea integrated optical network, which operates in an oceanic scenario.
  • Figure 2: Integrated pose-topology network planning for LAWN.
  • Figure 3: The architecture of an O-ISAC system.
  • Figure 4: Optical wireless channel model for different communication links in the optical LAWN system. (a) Water-to-air direct optical link. (b) Optical wireless link between dynamic low-altitude platforms. (c) FSO link between low-altitude and near-space.