Research project AVALON

UnderwAter optical wireless communication network architecture empowered byadVanced opticAl materiaLs for sea bOrder protection and deep-sea exploratioN (AVALON)

This project identifies the key technical and operational requirements for underwater optical wireless networks in military environments. By addressing challenges such as secure communications, reliability, range, mobility, and harsh underwater conditions, it lays the groundwork for next-generation high-speed underwater networking solutions to support defence and maritime operations.

The project at a glance

  • Start date:
    01 Jun 2025
  • Duration in months:
    36
  • Funding:
    European Commission
  • Principal Investigator(s):
    Symeon CHATZINOTAS
    Konstantinos NTONTIN
    Suman MALIK

糖心Vlog

AVALON envisions the design of a reliable, flexible, secure, private and scalable wireless system that supports high-speed communication, in the order of 10 Gbps to 100 Gbps, over beyond-optical-line-of-sight transmission distances reaching up to 100 m, with near-zero delay. This will be achieved by taking advantage of the optical spectrum and pioneering technological advances, such as metasurfaces to ensure uninterrupted communication in obstacle-riddled environments, as well as ML-based design for medium access, resource allocation and network management techniques. To realise this vision, a novel system model will be developed and analysed, incorporating physical, medium access control and resource management layer design while considering the particularities of the optical band. A pioneering beyond-Shannon theoretical framework will be developed, and network ML methodologies enabling integrated and accurate communication and sensing will be proposed. These results are expected to open the door to the realisation of novel, highly capable underwater optical wireless networks for military applications.

Organisation and Partners

  • Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT)
  • Signal Processing and Communications (SIGCOM)
  • ARTEMIS RESEARCH &INNOVATION S.R.L. (Coordinator) – Romania
  • OULUN YLIOPISTO – Finland
  • CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE – Italy
  • PANEPISTIMIO DYTIKIS MAKEDONIAS – Greece
  • ETHNIKO IDRYMA EREVNON – Greece
  • PLANOPSIM NV – Belgium
  • GESELLSCHAFT FUR ANGEWANDTE MIKRO UND OPTOELEKTR ONIK MIT BESCHRANKTERHAFTUNG AMO GMBH – Germany
  • PUOLUSTUSMINISTERIO – Finland
  • IANUS CONSULTING LTD – Cyprus
  • UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA – Spain
  • INNOCUBE I.K.E. – Greece
  • META MATERIALS SINGLE MEMBER S.A. – Greece
  • ODYSSEUS SPACE SA – Luxembourg

Project team

Keywords

  • Deep-sea Exploration
  • Underwater Optical Wireless Communication
  • Security Aspect
  • PHY and MAC-layer Protocol

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