Teledyne Marine announced BlueStreamX2, which doubles the data rate for Benthos Acoustic Modems in the WideBand C frequency without impacting their communication range performance. This upgrade is now available across all Benthos modem families—Acoustic Telemetry Modem (ATM), Compact Modem (CM), and Ultra Compact Modem (UCM)—as well as on UTS topside systems.

Benthos acoustic modems, known for their reliable underwater data transmission using digital signal processing modulation techniques, have historically operated over a 5 kHz bandwidth with bit rates up to 2400 bits per second. With the new BlueStreamX2 enhancement, the bandwidth has been expanded to 10 kHz, doubling the data rate to 4800 bits per second.

This breakthrough is made possible by the innovative high-frequency transducer design, extending performance over the band from 20 kHz to 30 kHz. While the WideBand C transducer has been a staple since the UCM's introduction in 2020, the new firmware leverages its full potential, bringing heightened speed and efficiency to underwater data communication.

All command structures, specifications, and operating parameters remain unchanged, ensuring seamless acoustic communication with previous generations of Band C modems. The BlueStreamX2 enhancement is exclusive to modems using the WideBand C transducer and is not available for older Band C modems nor for LF and MF products.

The future of underwater acoustic data transmission with Teledyne Marine's BlueStreamX2 enhancement can be experiences at Ocean Business 2025 (April 8-10, 2025, Southampton, UK) on Teledyne Marine’s stand T7.