ULTRA (Underwater Laser Telecommunications and Remote Access) is high-speed wireless for the subsea Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT).

NETL logo

In partnership with...

Oceanit’s ULTRA was developed with support from the Shell GameChanger program and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL).

Visit the NETL project page
Underwater sensors connected by cables on the sea floor

01

Wired undersea infrastructure is fragile

Wired infrastructure have proven extremely costly to place and maintain in the subsea. And while acoustic communication is the most readily available technology for subsea communications, it interferes with marine life and delivers data at rates slowly. High-speed, long-range wireless communication has proven elusive due to the broadband absorption of all standard communication wavelengths. No single wireless technology is currently capable of serving as the backbone of a high-bandwidth subsea communications system without sacrificing range and data rates.

A close up of laser transmitters

02

Laser technology travels more efficiently

ULTRA serves as the backbone of high-bandwidth subsea communications systems without sacrificing range or data rates. ULTRA uses point-to-point, tight-beam lasers to enable 100 Mbps bandwidth communications over distances of over 100 meters and runs through low-power sensor nodes, enabling real-time monitoring of wide-band data and eliminating the need for umbilicals. ULTRA has a much longer range than current systems and is unaffected by acoustic noise environments.

Two scuba swimmers installing an ULTRA sensor on the sea floor

03

Why it matters

In subsea environments high-speed data transmission, continuous monitoring abilities, and high-capacity communication systems are becoming critical for operations in deep-sea environments for communication and infrastructure, in both the private sector and defense sector. The higher data rates made possible by the system will provide actionable information for multiple subsea use cases. ULTRA enables more efficient operations and situational awareness across a wide variety of subsea IoT devices.

ULTRA hero video

ULTRA revolutionizes the way information is transmitted underwater.

This high-speed data backbone will be critical for the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT).

At a glance

Key features of ULTRA...

  • Gigabit bandwidth communications
  • No umbilicals to distributed sensors
  • Maintains high bandwidth at long ranges
  • Unaffected by high acoustic noise environments
  • Operable with ROVs/AUVs
  • Low power-consumption sensor nodes
  • Real-time monitoring of wide-band data

Download fact sheet
A laser tested at the bottom of a pool

Related products

Privacy Preference Center