A review of communication-oriented optical wireless systems
A review of communication-oriented optical wireless systems
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Date
2012-03-07
Authors
Borah, Deva K
Boucouvalas, Anthony C
Davis, Christopher C
Hranilovic, Steve
Yiannopoulos, Konstantinos
Advisor
Citation
Borah et al. EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking 2012, 2012:91 http://jwcn.eurasipjournals.com/content/2012/1/91
DRUM DOI
Abstract
This article presents an overview of optical wireless (OW) communication systems that operate both in the short-
(personal and indoor systems) and the long-range (outdoor and hybrid) regimes. Each of these areas is discussed
in terms of (a) key requirements, (b) their application framework, (c) major impairments and applicable mitigation
techniques, and (d) current and/or future trends. Personal communication systems are discussed within the context
of point-to-point ultra-high speed data transfer. The most relevant application framework and related standards are
presented, including the next generation Giga-IR standard that extends personal communication speeds to over 1
Gb/s. As far as indoor systems are concerned, emphasis is given on modeling the dispersive nature of indoor OW
channels, on the limitations that dispersion imposes on user mobility and dispersion mitigation techniques. Visible
light communication systems, which provide both illumination and communication over visible or hybrid visible/
infrared LEDs, are presented as the most important representative of future indoor OW systems. The discussion on
outdoor systems focuses on the impact of atmospheric effects on the optical channel and associated mitigation
techniques that extend the realizable link lengths and transfer rates. Currently, outdoor OW is commercially
available at 10 Gb/s Ethernet speeds for Metro networks and Local-Area-Network interconnections and speeds are
expected to increase as faster and more reliable optical components become available. This article concludes with
hybrid optical wireless/radio-frequency (OW/RF) systems that employ an additional RF link to improve the overall
system reliability. Emphasis is given on cooperation techniques between the reliable RF subsystem and the
broadband OW system.