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arxiv: 1907.11652 · v1 · pith:C6MQNBEAnew · submitted 2019-07-23 · 📡 eess.SP

Towards Self-Powered Internet of Underwater Things Devices

Jose Ilton de Oliveira Filho , Abderrahmen Trichili , Boon S. Ooi , Mohamed-Slim Alouini , Khaled Nabil Salama This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-24 17:16 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification 📡 eess.SP
keywords SLIPTInternet of Underwater Thingsoptical wireless power transferunderwater communicationwireless power transferIoUTlightwave information and power transfer
0
0 comments X

The pith

Light beams can deliver both power and data to underwater IoT devices through SLIPT.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper surveys techniques that use light to send information and deliver energy at the same time to devices in the Internet of Underwater Things. These techniques are grouped by how they divide resources across time, power levels, or spatial paths. Two specific SLIPT setups are shown operating when the light travels through underwater channels. Such an approach would let sensors harvest energy from the same light used for communication, reducing the need for battery replacements. The review also identifies hardware limitations and deployment difficulties in harsh underwater settings.

Core claim

The authors establish that simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer offers an efficient method for wireless power transfer between communicating terminals, supported by an overview of techniques in the time, power, and space domains along with two demonstrated scenarios through underwater channels.

What carries the argument

Simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer (SLIPT) techniques that allocate light resources in time, power, or space domains to carry both data and energy simultaneously.

If this is right

  • Underwater IoT devices can receive wireless power from the same light used for optical communication.
  • Self-powered operation of IoUT sensors becomes feasible without sole reliance on pre-charged batteries.
  • A single light-based infrastructure can address both connectivity and energy requirements in underwater environments.
  • Development efforts can target the identified hardware and harsh-environment deployment challenges.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • The same light-division methods could be tested in other scattering media such as fog or biological tissue.
  • Linking SLIPT designs to current underwater optical communication standards would support faster practical use.
  • Detailed modeling of how different water types affect the data-power trade-off would allow better system tuning.

Load-bearing premise

Light beams can carry enough usable energy alongside data through water despite absorption and scattering that reduce signal strength.

What would settle it

A direct measurement of net power delivered versus energy consumed, together with data transmission quality, in a controlled underwater test of the two demonstrated SLIPT scenarios over distances of a few meters.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 1907.11652 by Abderrahmen Trichili, Boon S. Ooi, Jose Ilton de Oliveira Filho, Khaled Nabil Salama, Mohamed-Slim Alouini.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Figure 1: Different SLIPT techniques: (a) time switching, (b) power splitting, [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p001_1.png] view at source ↗
Figure 2
Figure 2. Figure 2: Illustration of the use of self-powered IoUT devices in an underwater environment. [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p002_2.png] view at source ↗
Figure 3
Figure 3. Figure 3: Schematic illustrating the experimental setup of time switching underwater SLIPT and its block diagram program. [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p003_3.png] view at source ↗
Figure 5
Figure 5. Figure 5: (a) Self-powered underwater camera. Photograph of the module [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p004_5.png] view at source ↗
Figure 4
Figure 4. Figure 4: Temperature evolution of the water tank as a function of time. [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p004_4.png] view at source ↗
read the original abstract

Exploiting light beams to carry information and deliver power is mooted as a potential technology to recharge batteries of future generation Internet of things (IoT) and Internet of underwater things (IoUT) devices while providing optical connectivity. Simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer (SLIPT) has been recently proposed as an efficient way for wireless power transfer between communicating terminals. In this article, we provide an overview of the various SLIPT techniques in time, power, and space domains. We additionally demonstrate two SLPIT scenarios through underwater channels. Moreover, we discuss the open issues related to the hardware as well as system deployment in harsh environments.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Referee Report

2 major / 1 minor

Summary. The manuscript provides an overview of Simultaneous Lightwave Information and Power Transfer (SLIPT) techniques across time, power, and space domains as a potential enabler for self-powered Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT) devices. It illustrates two SLIPT scenarios through underwater channels and discusses open hardware and deployment issues in harsh environments.

Significance. If the illustrative scenarios hold, the paper could serve as a useful survey of SLIPT for optical wireless power and communication in underwater settings while flagging practical challenges. However, as a descriptive overview without new derivations, quantitative results, or reproducible elements, its significance is primarily in synthesizing existing ideas and identifying directions rather than advancing core claims with evidence.

major comments (2)
  1. [Abstract] Abstract: the claim to 'demonstrate two SLIPT scenarios through underwater channels' is load-bearing for the paper's contribution but remains unspecified; no channel models, attenuation/scattering parameters, or performance metrics are provided to allow assessment of the scenarios.
  2. [Abstract] Abstract: the assertion that SLIPT is 'an efficient way for wireless power transfer' is presented without any comparative analysis, efficiency calculations, or references to supporting data, weakening the motivation for IoUT applications.
minor comments (1)
  1. [Abstract] Abstract: 'SLPIT' appears to be a typographical error and should read 'SLIPT'.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

2 responses · 0 unresolved

Thank you for the referee's comments. As the manuscript is a survey synthesizing SLIPT techniques for IoUT rather than presenting new derivations or simulations, we address the abstract claims by clarifying scope and proposing targeted revisions.

read point-by-point responses

  1. Referee: [Abstract] Abstract: the claim to 'demonstrate two SLIPT scenarios through underwater channels' is load-bearing for the paper's contribution but remains unspecified; no channel models, attenuation/scattering parameters, or performance metrics are provided to allow assessment of the scenarios.

    Authors: We agree the abstract wording could be more precise. The paper is an overview; the scenarios are conceptual illustrations drawn from existing underwater optical channel literature rather than new models or quantitative evaluations. We will revise the abstract to use 'illustrate two conceptual SLIPT scenarios' and ensure the body explicitly references the channel models and parameters from cited works. revision: yes

  2. Referee: [Abstract] Abstract: the assertion that SLIPT is 'an efficient way for wireless power transfer' is presented without any comparative analysis, efficiency calculations, or references to supporting data, weakening the motivation for IoUT applications.

    Authors: The phrasing summarizes motivation from recent SLIPT proposals surveyed in the paper and is contextualized with references in the introduction. As a survey, we do not perform new comparative analysis. To strengthen clarity, we will add a supporting citation to key efficiency studies in the revised abstract or introduction. revision: partial

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No significant circularity; purely descriptive overview

full rationale

The paper is an overview article that summarizes existing SLIPT techniques across domains, illustrates two scenarios in underwater channels, and discusses open hardware/deployment issues. No derivation chain, equations, fitted parameters, or first-principles predictions are present that could reduce to inputs by construction. No self-citations function as load-bearing justifications for a central result, and the content remains self-contained without any renaming of known results or ansatz smuggling.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

Abstract-only review of an overview paper; no new models, parameters, or entities introduced.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5648 in / 864 out tokens · 14762 ms · 2026-05-24T17:16:37.440146+00:00 · methodology

discussion (0)

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Reference graph

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