TRUSTED BY GLOBAL LEADING COMPANIES
DEMOCRATISING SUBSEA DATAFLOW
LUMA
Solutions Across the Entire Subsea Value Chain
Fast. Faster...
LUMA™ modems are lightning-fast. they can send data at up to 10 Mbit/s bandwidth enabling truly HD-quality video transfer wirelessly through water in real time.
Plug & Play
LUMA™ is designed with flexibility in mind. In its base configuration, it is a transparent link between your legacy systems, making it very easy to integrate. Plug & Play is not just marketing language when it comes to LUMA™.
From Splash Zones to 6km Depth
LUMA™ offers unparalleled connectivity and can extend your satellite and 5G communication link to the deepest place on planet Earth, making it a vital agent for real-time monitoring of structures in digital twin systems.
Unmatched Power Efficiency
Our most advanced LUMA™ modem will consume 1500 times less energy than the fastest acoustic modem on the market per bit of data. It makes LUMA™ the best option for data transfers on battery-powered sensors.
FEATURES
All You Need
and Even More
Minimal multi-path distorition
High tolerance to ambient light
6000 m depth
rated
Plug & Play ethernet interface
Ultra-compact and low weight
Ultra-low power sleep mode with optical wake-up
High speed data transfer
Low
latency
INTERVIEWS
What Our Clients Say
VIDEOS
Watch and Discover
the Depths of LUMA™
FAQ
Yes, any light source can be a possible source of interference. The level of interference however strongly depends on the type and brightness of the light source. Typically, constant light sources (such as sunlight, incandescent lights) cause much less (if any) interference than pulsed light sources (dimmed LEDs, fluorescent tubes with an electronic ballast).
We have worked diligently to achieve the widest possible dynamic range with our optical modems, making them as tolerant as possible to ambient light conditions. While some competing products may only work at depths of 150 meters and below in near darkness, our modems are typically more tolerant to the ambient light. LUMA X UV is the best choice in the environment with a lot of ambient light pollution.
The human eye adapts to light on an exponential scale, making differences in light levels less obvious to us. However, for a photosensor like the modem's receiver, even small variations in light can have a significant impact.
The best performance for the LUMA modems is achieved at light levels of 1 lux and below, which is quite dark. For comparison, a well-lit office or a trade show floor can have light levels around 500 lux, while direct sunlight can reach up to 40,000 lux, which is approximately 1 million times stronger than the modem's signal. Deploying LUMA modems under direct sunlight, for testing or for data transfer, is not recommended.
For one-way communication, such as a camera streaming video via UDP, it can help to position the receiving modem to look down and the transmitting modem looking up. This arrangement reduces the receiving side's exposure to sun and sky. Additionally, placing a plate behind the receiving modem can create a "shadow zone" to further reduce back-scattered sunlight around the modem.
In shallow water with sunlight, we recommend using LUMA™ X-UV, specifically designed for more challenging ambient light conditions as it operates in the UV spectrum. However, while LUMA™ X-UV is robust against visible artificial light sources like halogen and LED lights, natural sunlight still contains a significant amount of UV light.
Adding a sun shield to keep the modem receiver in shadow as much as possible would measurably improve the performance. This can be achieved by mounting a larger plate above the modem to block the sky's view or by placing a tube around the LUMA™ modem, extending it 5-10 cm beyond the front lens. Depending on conditions such as depth, turbidity, and light scattering, this can extend the effective communication range of the modem.
The maximum range (and speed) specified in the data sheets of all LUMA™ modems does assume clear water, as it is typicaly encountered in deeper waters. Turbidity does decrease the maximum range at which LUMA™ modems can operate. In turbid waters the maximum communication for LUMA™ X and LUMA™ 500ER is about 3 times the visibility ("Secchi Depth").
A more detailed analysis for LUMA™ X is available upon request.
No, all LUMA™ devices are transceivers and can send and receive data (half-duplex).
No, LUMA™ modems can typically not communicate between each other as one of the following differs between two different models: wavelength, speed, modulation, transmission range (sensitivity).
A number of configurable forward error correction schemes, which increase the reliability of the communication channel, are implemented. Faulty packages are automatically rejected on the receiving side using a checksum which is automatically added on the sending side. In order to maximize the transparency and versatility of the LUMA™ optical communciation nodes, no additional protocol layers (such as TCP) which would ensure data delivery through resending, are implemented.
LUMA™ modems do not have a communication protocol "per se" like acoustic modems do, as they act as a transparent link replacement for a serial cable (LUMA™ 100/250LP/500ER) or an Ethernet cable (LUMA™ X/X-UV).
More specifically LUMA™ X modems act as a transparent link to end devices, similar to a network switch or a wifi router. the LUMA™ modem works in the link layer of the IP stack, which means it will forward any Ethernet packet that it sees without the need for an additional protocol.
LUMA™ 100/250LP/500ER modems act like a wireless serial connection. While the modem internally packetizes the continuous serial stream to apply error checking and optional error correction over the wireless optical channel, to the devices on both ends it looks like the continuous serial data stream from a cable. This means that for many existing devices that were designed to download data through a serial RS232 cable, LUMA will work transparently as a drop-in upgrade, without any modifications to the end device or data protocol.
All LUMA™ modems provide a fully transparent connection so the devices on both ends are usually not even aware of the modems in between them. So like an Ethernet cable or a serial cable, the modems are agnostic to the data sent across them and the operating system of the hosts. LUMA™ X and LUMA™ X-UV do have two ways to interface them while they are in operation:
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A REST-based API through which you can configure the modem and obtain modem and channel information.
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A web interface running on a web server inside the modem through which you can configure the modem and obtain modem and channel information.
The API and web interface are documented in the LUMA™ X/X-UV manual which can be obtained on our website. This documentation also contains Python examples for API access.
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Not necessarily. While the maximum range indicated in the data sheet requires a direct line of sight, indirect light from reflective surfaces or scattered light from particles in the water will often allow for a communication link even without line-of-sight.
All LUMA™ modems come with a Subconn connector which is suitable for underwater operations. However, to test the modems on the bench or prepare them for deployment we developed adapter boxes for all of our modems which convert Subconn connector to:
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A standard barrel plug-style power connector
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A micro-USB connector (with built-in USB to serial conversion) for our LUMA™ 100/250LP/500ER modems, or an RJ45 for our LUMA™ X and LUMA™ X-UV.
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You do not have to buy the power plugs and power/data adapters from Hydromea, but we strongly suggest it. Customer problems while setting up LUMA™ modems can often be traced back to connectivity issues, so the cables we sell provide a baseline test and development functionality which is very useful when setting up and integrating LUMA™ modems into your system.
They also provide a reliable connection to a PC for firmware updates.
We thus recommend every first-time buyer to get a pair of power/data cables along with the power supplies.
To fully demonstrate the modem's capabilities, it is best to conduct a test in clear water at depths greater than 30 meters, during the evening or night, or indoors with lights off to minimize sunlight exposure. Turbidity in the water can also affect the expected range, with LUMA™ modems using blue light typically achieving about three times the visibility range in dark conditions compared to twice the range for LUMA™ X-UV.
In environments with some ambient light present, LUMA™ X-UV would work best as it operates in the invisible UV spectrum and is typically not disturbed by the visible light sources such as halogen and LED lights.
With the release of firmware V1.4, LUMA™ X as well as LUMA™ X-UV modems automatically adapt the emitter power (number of transmitting LEDs), the receiver sensitivity, and the transmission speed depending on the signal-to-noise ration (SNR) encountered. This feature can be disabled, allowing for a manual setting of transmitter power, receiver gain and transmission speed.
For other LUMA™ models this feature can be implemented, contact us for further information.
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