Updated date as on - Feb 18, 2020

The global underwater acoustic communication market is estimated to be valued at USD 1.31 billion in 2017 and reach USD 2.86 billion, at a CAGR of 13.8% between 2017 and 2023.

By application, the underwater acoustic communication market for environmental monitoring is expected to hold the largest market share during the forecast period

Based on application, environmental monitoring is estimated to hold the largest share of 28.2% of the underwater acoustic communication market in 2017. Environmental monitoring is used to monitor potential effects on the terrestrial and nearshore environment associated with onshore construction activities. The pollution monitoring application is estimated to hold the second-largest share of 14.1% of the underwater acoustic communication market in 2017.

By end user, the underwater acoustic communication market for scientific research and development is estimated to hold the largest market size during the forecast period

On the basis of end user, scientific research and development is estimated to hold the largest share of 30.9% of the underwater acoustic market in 2017. Leading oil companies are expected to increase their exploration capital expenditure and resume drilling in deep-water in a bid to build hydrocarbon-based assets.

North America to account for the largest market size during the forecast period.

North America is estimated to hold the largest share of the underwater acoustic communication market during the forecast period. The US and Canada are using unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) for various defense operations such as anti-submarine warfare, security, and surveillance, due to the growing security concerns in these countries. Thus, the increasing applicability of UUVs in defense and commercial sectors is anticipated to drive the growth of the market in North America.

Market Dynamics

Driver: Increasing adoption of underwater acoustic modems in navel defense

Underwater acoustic modems are used to transmit data wirelessly in the water or marine surroundings. With the use of underwater modems, the navy can monitor, navigate, and communicate under water. The use of technologies, such as GPS and Wi-Fi, beneath the water surface, has been made possible through the introduction of underwater modems, which are also known as acoustic modems. Researchers and scientists are performing an extensive research to overcome the difficulties inherent in the propagation of information bearing signals underwater. The underwater communication demands reliable, and high capacity underwater acoustic networks. End users such as offshore oil & gas, navy have been relying on the data gathered through acoustic communication for their business operations. Therefore, several end users rely on acoustic modems to carry out underwater communication instead of other traditional communication technique. There have been some recent efforts to develop underwater acoustic networks in shallow and medium water regions such as Deployable Autonomous Distributed System (DADS) funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Autonomous Oceanographic Sampling Network sponsored by the ONR and the National Science Foundation. For instance, the DADS, which provide undersea surveillance, is an underwater array of fixed sensor platforms interconnected by acoustic modems. All these factors have increased the adoption of underwater acoustic communication modems in naval defense.

Restraint: Limited speed of data transmission and delayed delivery rates due to the relatively slow speed of sound in water

Acoustic waves are used as the primary carrier for underwater wireless communication systems due to its relatively low absorption in underwater environments. Underwater acoustic communication is relatively slow compared with radio communication, which can only travel upto 100 meters of the water depth. This is because the speed of sound in water is roughly 1500 meters/second, which results in a relatively low baud rate. Moreover, there are complications with the transmission due to signal absorption, geometric spreading losses, boundary effects, and multipath. Thus, difficult wave propagation limits the speed of data transmission, thereby restricting the use of acoustic communication under water.

Opportunity: Growing demand for environmental protection

Underwater acoustic sensors can be used for monitoring pollution such as chemical, biological, and nuclear. Some examples of environmental monitoring are monitoring of ocean currents and winds, providing improved weather forecast, detecting climate change, and understanding and predicting the effect of human activities on marine ecosystems. Another application of underwater acoustic communication is water quality monitoring, which can have a huge impact on aquaculture management, wastewater treatment, drinking water, and some other applications. Different wireless underground sensor network (WUSN) monitoring system detects the pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, temperature, Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), and flow. Thus, increasing environmental protection concerns creates a lucrative opportunity for the growth of the underwater acoustic communication market.

Challenge: Availability of limited usable frequency brand

The bandwidth limitation caused by severe frequency dependent attenuation of acoustic signals pose a huge challenge for the growth of the underwater acoustic communication market . The spectrum is a scarce resource, and a large part of spectrum is used by underwater acoustic systems for communication. Due to the frequency-dependent attenuation, the available communication frequencies in water are severely limited, usually from tens of hertz to hundreds of kilohertz. Majority of artificial and natural acoustic systems operate in the frequency band from 1 kHz to 100 kHz, thereby resulting in the congestion of the acoustic channel.

Scope of the Report

Report Metric Details Market size available for years 2015�2023 Base year considered 2016 Forecast period 2017�2023 Forecast units Million (USD) Segments covered Interface Platform, Communication Range, Application, End User, and Geography Geographies covered North America, Europe, APAC, RoW (South America, Middle East, and Africa) Companies covered Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (Teledyne Technologies) (US), Kongsberg Gruppen (Kongsberg) (Norway), Thales Group (Thales) (France), Ultra Electronics Group (Ultra Electronics) (UK), Sonardyne International Ltd. (Sonardyne International) (UK),Evologics GmbH (Evologics) (Germany), DSPComm (Australia), Mistral, Inc. (Mistral) (US), Nortek AS (Nortek) (Norway), Aquatec Group Ltd. (Aquatec Group) (UK), Baltrobotics Sp.z.o.o (Baltrobotics) (Poland), Tritech International Limited (Tritech International) (UK), Gavial Holdings, Inc. (Gavial Holdings) (US), HAI, Inc. (Hydroacoustic) (US), LinkQuest, Inc. (LinkQuest) (US), AquaSent LLC. (Aquasent) (US), Proserv (UK), Subnero Pte. Ltd. (Subnero) (Singapore), RTSys (Caudan), G5 Scientific, LLC. (G5 Scientific) (US), JPAnalytics LLC. (JPAnalytics) (US), Seagnal SAS (Seagnal) (France).

The research report categorizes the Underwater Acoustic Communication to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-segments:

Underwater Acoustic Communication Market, By Interface Platform

Sensor Interface

Acoustic Modem

Others

Underwater Acoustic Communication Market, By Communication Range

Shallow Water Range

Medium Water Range

Long Water Range

Full Ocean Range

Underwater Acoustic Communication Market, By Application

Environmental Monitoring

Pollution Monitoring

Climate Recording

Hydrography

Oceanography

Others

Underwater Acoustic Communication Market, By End User

Oil & Gas

Military & Defense

Scientific Research & Development

Marine

Underwater Acoustic Communication Market, By Geography

North America

Europe

APAC

RoW

Key Market Players:

Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (Teledyne Technologies) (US), Kongsberg Gruppen (Kongsberg) (Norway), Thales Group (Thales) (France), Ultra Electronics Group (Ultra Electronics) (UK), Sonardyne International Ltd. (Sonardyne International) (UK),Evologics GmbH (Evologics) (Germany), DSPComm (Australia), Mistral, Inc. (Mistral) (US), Nortek AS (Nortek) (Norway), Aquatec Group Ltd. (Aquatec Group) (UK), Baltrobotics Sp.z.o.o (Baltrobotics) (Poland), Tritech International Limited (Tritech International) (UK), Gavial Holdings, Inc. (Gavial Holdings) (US), HAI, Inc. (Hydroacoustic) (US), LinkQuest, Inc. (LinkQuest) (US), AquaSent LLC. (Aquasent) (US), Proserv (UK), Subnero Pte. Ltd. (Subnero) (Singapore), RTSys (Caudan), G5 Scientific, LLC. (G5 Scientific) (US), JPAnalytics LLC. (JPAnalytics) (US), Seagnal SAS (Seagnal) (France).

Teledyne Technologies provides electronic components, instruments, and communications products. The company provides a broad range of end-to-end undersea interconnect solutions to the offshore oil and gas, naval defense, oceanographic, and telecom markets. The company offers an extensive product portfolio for several industries adopting underwater acoustic communication technology. For instance, in November 2017 the company introduced a new Lidar sensor, which can be used in ports and harbors, environmentally sensitive areas, construction and inspection zones, dams and reservoirs, harbors, and rivers, etc. The company focuses on product development as one of its major growth strategies to strengthen its position in the underwater acoustic communication market. Moreover, the company strives to provide one-stop purchasing capability, worldwide customer support, and technical expertise to its customers worldwide.

Recent Developments:

In November 2017, Teledyne introduced the new LiDAR sensor for their Z-Boat 1800RP unmanned surface vehicle (USV) product line.

In March 2017, Mistral introduced the Bounce Imaging Explorer at the 2017 AUSA Global Force Symposium & Exhibition. The product provides real-time live omnidirectional video and recording capabilities for military applications.

In April 2015, EvoLogics, a company with experts in underwater information technologies, launched S2CM-HS, a high-speed mini modem, which offers data rates of up to 62.5 kbps for short-range data transmissions.

In August 2016, Ultra Electronics received a contract worth USD 27 million from Lockheed Martin for the non-recurring engineering, production of the MK 48 Torpedo Array Nose Assembly, as well as engineering services and spares.

In March 2017, Proserv has entered into a strategic alliance with JDR in West Africa to provide operators with enhanced subsea technology solutions to effectively support their life of field services requirements in this region.

Critical questions the report answers:

Where will all these developments take the industry in the long term?

What are the upcoming trends for the Underwater Acoustic Communication market?

Which segment provides the most opportunity for growth?

Who are the leading vendors operating in this market?

What are the opportunities for new market entrants?

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