Hydromea and Equinor demonstrated a real-time, high-bandwidth wireless data transmission from the seabed directly to the cloud, using a combination of optical subsea networking and satellite connectivity.

At the core of the system is Hydromea’s LUMA platform, which uses free-space optical (FSO) communication to transmit data underwater.

The LUMA devices created a subsea wireless LAN (WLAN) hotspot capable of transmitting data at speeds of up to 10 Mbps at depths reaching roughly 6,000 meters. Data collected by subsea sensors or underwater vehicles was transmitted wirelessly to the surface, then routed through Equinor’s proprietary DEEPNET network and ultimately delivered to the cloud and onshore control systems.

According to the companies, the test represents the first time large volumes of data captured on the ocean floor were streamed wirelessly “in real time” through a subsea network into a cloud environment.

That capability could allow offshore operators to monitor subsea infrastructure, pipelines, and equipment more continuously while reducing the need for vessel-based inspections.

“This is an important milestone for Hydromea, working with Equinor to show how real-time connectivity for untethered vehicles and data harvesting from sensors will flow wirelessly in real time into an asset operator’s cloud for immediate insights into operational matters,” Hydromea CEO Igor Martin noted in a statement.

Enabling autonomous subsea operations

The technology is intended to support the next phase of autonomous subsea operations, as operators have increasingly experimented with underwater drones and autonomous intervention vehicles that can inspect or maintain subsea infrastructure.

But those systems often rely on tethered communication links or periodic data retrieval, which limits real-time operational awareness.

Hydromea’s optical communication platform aims to address that limitation by allowing autonomous vehicles and subsea sensors to offload data wirelessly through underwater network nodes.

Equinor has been developing standardized docking and data infrastructure designed to support subsea drones and intervention vehicles as part of a broader push toward autonomous offshore operations.

The work also ties into broader industry efforts to standardize and secure underwater wireless networking.

Both Hydromea and Equinor participate in the Subsea Wireless Group, which is working to establish interoperability frameworks for subsea wireless technologies.

Standardization could be critical as offshore operators look to scale subsea digitalization projects across both oil and gas infrastructure and offshore renewable energy systems.