Optical Wireless Systems Employing Adaptive Collaborative Transmitters in an Indoor Channel

We propose a novel optical wireless (OW) system based on a power adaptive multibeam spot-diffusing transmitter serving multiple seven-segment maximum ratio combining (MRC) angle diversity receivers. A feedback link is assumed between the transceivers so that each receiver conveys to the multibeam transmitter the new beams transmit power weights to be used to achieve the best signal quality at a given receiver location. Two cases involving three and five receivers are considered. Four different configurations for the placement of the three-receiver case in the room are also examined. The system's performance in each case is evaluated in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and is compared with the single receiver scenario with and without power adaptation. In the presence of one receiver, the transmit spot powers can be adjusted for optimum performance at that receiver location. For multiple receivers, there is conflict, and we propose spot power adaptation based on the average requirements (power distribution in spots), i.e., transmit equal gain combining (EGC) of spot power or MRC of transmit spot powers. The results show that the three receivers benefit most from an adaptive transmitter when each is placed at a corner of the room. In this case, an SNR increase of as much as 2.6 dB is achieved for all three receivers at the corners by both MRC and EGC. Moreover, when all receivers are placed away from the line of diffusing spots, our proposed MRC collaborative approach is 1 dB better than the noncollaborative system. This gain reduces the difference from the upper bound set by the single receiver adaptation, which is 3 dB. For a mobile transmitter, MRC also significantly improved the SNR for the farthest receivers at the opposite end from the transmitter located near one room corner.      

Multispot diffusing configuration for wireless infrared access

In order to combine the advantages and to overcome the drawbacks of a direct line-of-sight or a diffuse configuration for wireless infrared access, a multispot diffusing concept utilizing a holographic spot array generator is presented. Simulation results are presented and compared with those for a pure diffuse configuration in terms of link characteristics, when a single-element or a multibranch composite receiver is employed. The multispot transmitter ensures a more uniform signal power distribution. Improvements of about 2 dBo (optical decibels) can be achieved compared to a Lambertian pattern illumination. The increased power path loss at the edges of the communication cell is accompanied with a decrease in the delay spread resulting in an extension of the coverage range. Utilization of angle diversity detection improves the signal-to-noise ratio by more than 7 dB when selecting the best receiver branch and more than 10.5 dB in the case of maximal-ratio combining. Use of a multibeam transmitter and an angle diversity receiver reduces the likelihood of shadowing of the receiver due to an obstacle standing along the path between the receiver and the transmitter     

Indoor broadband optical wireless communications: optical subsystems designs and their impact on channel characteristics

With proper system design, infrared multispot diffusing (MSD) configuration communications links promise several orders of magnitude higher bit rates than radio links. Essential to the communications system are the optical subsystems: transmitter and receiver optics. Preliminary experiments on fabrication of beamshaping optical elements for the transmitter and receiver optical front-end have been conducted. The impact of optical subsystems on channel characteristics is investigated, and the results undoubtedly prove the great potential of MSDC. Use of holographic optical elements at both transmitter and receiver increases the signal-to-noise ratio by at least 11 dB and at the same time significantly improves the power budget of the system by reducing path loss by more than 6 dB.     

Receiver designs and channel characterization for multi-spothigh-bit-rate wireless infrared communications

This paper addresses one of the most promising candidates for high-speed in-house wireless communications, namely, the multi-spot diffusing configuration (MSDC). Since it uses the optical infrared medium for data transmission, it has the inherent potential for achieving very high capacities. The channel characteristics in MSDC are simulated and the causes for channel distortion are analyzed. Then, conditions for creation of a virtually ideal channel are derived. It is shown that the 3-dB channel bandwidth can be extended up to beyond 2 GHz. This bandwidth comes at the cost of a poor power efficiency. In order to compensate for that, a novel receiver optical front-end design is proposed and its performance is analyzed. Taking advantage of the unique properties of the holographic optical elements, the conventional optical front-end, consisting of a concentrator and a filter, is replaced by a single holographic curved mirror. The utilization of such a holographic optical element improves the signal-to-shot noise ratio by up to 18.5 dB     

Performance evaluation of 2.5 Gbit/s and 5 Gbit/s optical wireless systems employing a two dimensional adaptive beam clustering method and imaging diversity detection

Previous indoor mobile optical wireless systems operated typically at 30 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s and here we report on systems that operate at 2.5 Gbit/s and 5 Gbit/s. We are able to achieve these improvements through the introduction of three new approaches: transmit beam power adaptation, a two dimensional beam clustering method (2DBCM), and diversity imaging. Through channel and noise modeling we evaluated the performance of our systems. The performance of a novel optical wireless (OW) configuration that employs a two dimensional adaptive beam clustering method (2DABCM) in conjunction with imaging diversity receivers is evaluated under multipath dispersion and background noise (BN) impairments. The new proposed system (2DABCM transmitter with imaging diversity receiver) can help reduce the effect of intersymbol interference and improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) even at high bit rate. At a bit rate of 30 Mbit/s, previous work has shown that imaging conventional diffuse systems (CDS) with maximal ratio combining (MRC) offer 22 dB better SNR than the non-imaging CDS. Our results indicate that the 2DABCM system with an imaging diversity receiver provides an SNR improvement of 45 dB over the imaging CDS with MRC when both operate at 30 Mbit/s. In the CDS system, an increase in bandwidth from 38 MHz (non-imaging CDS) to 200 MHz approximately, is achieved when an imaging receiver is implemented. Furthermore, the three new methods introduced increase the bandwidth from 38 MHz to 5.56 GHz. At the least successful receiver locations, our 2.5 Gbit/s and 5 Gbit/s imaging 2DABCM systems with MRC offer significant SNR improvements, almost 26 dB and 19 dB respectively over the non-imaging CDS that operates at 30 Mbit/s.     

Analysis of diffuse optical wireless channels employing spot-diffusing techniques, diversity receivers, and combining schemes

In this letter, the performance of an indoor optical wireless spot-diffusing system using various multibeam transmitter configurations, in association with direction diversity and combining techniques, is assessed and compared under the impact of multipath dispersion and ambient light noise through theoretical analysis and computer simulation. Computer simulation for three different multibeam transmitter configurations and a conventional diffuse transmitter is carried out. Diversity receiver and wide field-of-view (FOV) receiver configurations are evaluated in conjunction with the proposed configurations. For the diversity-detection case, a receiver comprising an array of narrow FOV detectors (three and seven segments) oriented in different directions is used to maximize the collected signals and minimize noise. A novel line-strip multibeam system (LSMS) is investigated with single and diversity receiver configurations, and is compared with other spot-diffusing methods. Combining schemes, including selection combining, maximum ratio combining, and equal gain combining are employed for the presented configurations. Our results indicate that the performance improvement obtained through the use of LSMS with a three-direction diversity receiver is about 20 dB signal-to-noise ratio enhancement over the conventional diffuse system, and 26 dB when combining techniques are used. Root mean square delay-spread performance for the proposed configurations, at different positions on the communication floor, are also evaluated and compared.     

室内MIMO ACO-OFDM可见光通信系统接收机设计

设计了一种在室内可见光MIMO通信系统(MIMO-VLC)中使用具有两个不同视场角(FOV)的光电二极管(PD)的角度分集光接收机(2FOV-ADR),其兼具两个不同视场角的接收机(2-FOV)和传统角度分集接收机(ADR)的优点,实现了更优的接收性能。对将LED灯用作数据发射器的典型室内可见光通信场景进行仿真,结果表明,2FOV-ADR均衡器输出端的最小信噪比(minSNR)要高于2-FOV接收机和传统ADR,实现了室内97%的位置的minSNR在45 dB以上,相比于前两种接收机,这一比例分别提高了96%和32%。最后,对使用非对称限幅光正交频分复用(ACO-OFDM)作为调制方案的系统,计算总误码率(BER),给出了迫零和最小均方误差均衡器的结果。结果表明,对于所考虑的室内位置,2FOV-ADR都具有最低的误码率。     

Performance evaluation of a triangular pyramidal fly-eye diversity detector for optical wireless communications

Background noise and multipath propagation are the major impairments in indoor optical wireless links. They can introduce heavy distortion in the received optical signal and can degrade the system performance. An investigation into the optical wireless system performance has been carried out for two configurations: a hybrid system, and a diffuse system with a single detector and a triangular pyramidal fly-eye diversity receiver (PFDR). Original results for both systems that employ a PFDR antenna, under different fields of view (FOVs), are presented. The design goal is to reduce the effect of signal spread and improve the signal-to-noise ratio when the system operates under the constraints of background noise and multipath dispersion. It is demonstrated that through PFDR FOV optimization the directional background interference can be reduced and the received pulse shape improved.     

A Genetic Algorithm Method for Optical Wireless Channel Control

A genetic algorithm controlled multispot transmitter is proposed as an alternative approach to optimizing the power distribution for single element receivers in fully diffuse mobile indoor optical wireless communication systems. By specifically tailoring the algorithm, it is shown that by dynamically altering the intensity of individual diffusion spots, a consistent power distribution, with negligible impact on bandwidth and rms delay spread, can be created in multiple rooms independent of reflectivity characteristics and user movement patterns. This advantageous adaptability removes the need for bespoke system design, aiming instead for the use of a more cost effective, optimal transmitter and receiver capable of deployment in multiple scenarios and applications. From the simulations conducted it is deduced, that implementing a receiver with a FOV=55^deg in conjunction with either of two notable algorithms, the dynamic range of the rooms, referenced against the peak received power, can be reduced by up to 26% when empty, and furthermore to within 12% of this optimized case when user movement perturbs the channel.     

Postdetection diversity receiver for DAPSK signals on the Rayleigh and Rician-fading channel

In this paper, the optimum decision boundaries for (N, M) differential amplitude phase-shift keying on the Rayleigh-fading channel are analyzed. A postdetection maximal ratio combining (MRC) and weighted maximal ratio combining (WMRC) diversity receivers are proposed. In the Rayleigh-fading channel, assuming a high signal-to-noise ratio and a small normalized Doppler frequency, the analytical optimum decision boundaries are obtained. In addition, it is shown that an outer optimum decision boundary is the inverse of the inner optimum decision boundary. In the proposed MRC receiver, the decision at each branch is made based on the minimum distance criterion. The performance of the MRC receiver is analyzed, in terms of the union bound for bit error probability. The proposed WMRC receiver assigns weighting factors to the decision variable at each branch, based on the optimum decision boundaries. The performance of the WMRC is investigated through computer simulation and compared with those of MRC and equal gain combining (EGC). From the results, the performances of MRC and WMRC are found to be better than those of the EGC receiver on both the Rayleigh- and Rician-fading channels. It is also found that the performance improvement of WMRC over MRC is more pronounced as the number of diversity branches increases     

Performance analysis of space time block coding techniques for indoor optical wireless systems

Indoor optical wireless systems provide an attractive alternative for realizing next generation Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). In this paper, the performance of diffuse optical wireless systems, employing Space Time Block Coding (STBC) techniques, is numerically investigated, accurately taking into account, the indoor channel impulse response and the characteristics of ambient light and thermal noises at the receiver. Discrete Multitone modulation (DMT) is used to mitigate the effect of intersymbol interference due to the channel?s impulse response. The performance of STBC systems, employing two transmit elements, is compared against Single Input/ Single Output (SISO) and Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) systems operating with the same total optical transmitter power. It is shown that STBC techniques can be used to increase the capacity of diffuse optical wireless systems, improve their coverage and decrease the required optical power at the transmitter. These results demonstrate the usefulness of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) techniques in the realization of optical WLANs.     

Line strip spot-diffusing transmitter configuration for optical wireless systems influenced by background noise and multipath dispersion

In this letter, we propose and evaluate a novel optical wireless configuration that employs a multibeam transmitter in conjunction with a narrow field-of-view direction diversity receiver. Such a configuration overcomes the drawbacks and combines the advantages of both types of optical wireless links, including line-of-sight and diffuse transmission. A multibeam transmitter placed on the communication floor was adopted to produce multiple diffusing spots on the middle of the ceiling in the form of a line strip. The design goal is to reduce the effect of intersymbol interference and to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) when the system operates under the constraints of background noise and multipath dispersion. Simulation results show that our line strip multibeam transmitter (LSMT) with only three branches diversity gives about 23 dB SNR improvement over the conventional system. The results also show that the multipath dispersion, which induces pulse spread, is significantly reduced when the LSMT with diversity detection is used.     

Adaptive mobile line strip multibeam MC-CDMA optical wireless system employing imaging detection in a real indoor environment

Three methods (transmit power adaptation, imaging reception, and Multicarrier Code Division Multiple Access (MCCDMA)) are introduced to the optical wireless (OW) system and a significant improvement is achieved in the presence of very directive noise, multipath propagation, mobility, and shadowing typical in a real indoor environment. In the absence of shadowing, replacing a single non-imaging receiver by an imaging receiver with maximal ratio combining (MRC) improves the signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) by 20 dB in a conventional diffuse system (CDS) operating at 30 Mbit/s at a transmitter-receiver separation of 6m in agreement with previous results in the field. Further SNR improvement of 24 dB is achieved when a line strip multi-beam system (LSMS) replaces the CDS when both systems employ an imaging MRC receiver. Furthermore, our new adaptive LSMS (ALSMS) system coupled with the imaging MRC receiver offers an SNR improvement of 23 dB over the imaging MRC LSMS illustrating the gain achieved through adaptation. The results also show that combining transmit power adaptation with spotdiffusing (i.e. ALSMS) coupled with an imaging receiver based on select best (SB) increases the bandwidth from 46.5 MHz (nonimaging CDS) to 7.53 GHz thus enabling the OW system to achieve higher data rates and provide multi-user capabilities in our case by employing a MC-CDMA scheme. In a 10 user MC-CDMA OW system, a bit error rate (BER) improvement from 4.9 × 10^?1 to 2.1 × 10^?5 is achieved when the imaging MRC ALSMS system replaces the imaging CDS in a shadowed environment.     

Multiple spot diffusing geometries for indoor optical wireless communication systems

In order to improve the performance of indoor optical wireless communication links, two multispot diffusing geometries based on diamond and line strip spot distribution geometries are proposed, analysed and compared to the known uniform spot distribution. Such geometries combine the advantages of the diffuse and the line‐of‐sight systems, giving great robustness and ease of use. The novel line strip multibeam transmitter geometry has resulted in a receiver signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) improvement of about 4 dB compared to the conventional diffuse system as well as a significant reduction in the pulse spread. Simulation and comparison results for both the conventional diffuse system and the three multispot diffusing geometries are presented. Further, pulse responses, SNR, and delay spread results at various locations are presented. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The TR-UWB receiver based on spatial diversity

This paper presents a new Transmitted Reference (TR) Ultra-WideBand (UWB) receiver based on Spatial Diversity (SD), which employs Multi-Antenna Technology (MAT) to improve the performance of TR-UWB receiver. According to the amplitude of correlator output of every antenna branch, this paper analyzed the performances of the proposed TR-UWB receiver employing three different kinds of combina-tion strategies, i.e., Maximum Ratio Combination (MRC), Equal Gain Combination (EGC), and Selective Combination (SC), which are different from conventional ones, and theoretically proved that the performance of EGC is better than MRC. Simulation results verify that when EGC is adopted and BER=10–3, increasing three antennas provides Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) gain of about 3 dB in CM4 channel and SNR gain of about 2 dB in CM2 channel.     

分布式猫眼腔免调试激光器发射端视场的优化

为实现面向自适应激光无线传能应用的大范围免调试激光器，对基于猫眼逆反射器的端面泵浦Nd: GdVO₄激光器开展实验研究；在补偿接收端的球差和场曲、优化激光器工作距离和接收端视场的基础上，分析发现发射端各透镜的场曲所导致的猫眼逆反射器离焦是限制其视场角度（接收端离轴量容限）的主要因素。基于Zemax软件对发射端场曲进行分析计算，并设计加工了矫正场曲的非球面透镜以避免接收端离轴情况下的发射端离焦，实现优化发射端视场的目的。使用优化设计的非球面透镜后，在5 m的长工作距离下激光器4.6°发射端视场内的输出功率均在其最高输出功率的50%以上，相比使用普通球面透镜时的结果得到显著的提升。对比理论设计和实验结果仍有一定差距，认为补偿激光晶体热透镜的像差是进一步优化发射端视场的关键。     

DS-CDMA performance with maximum ratio combining and antenna arrays

The mobile communication channel is very hostile to a DS-CDMA signal and therefore effective techniques are needed to enhance system performance and capacity. Further, since DS-CDMA capacity and performance is limited by the uplink, ways to improve the uplink performance is needed. By implementing antenna arrays, diversity schemes or a combination of antenna arrays and diversity techniques, the uplink performance can be improved substantially. In this study we consider a single cell with a base station at the center with mobiles uniformly distributed around it. As channel model a Nakagami distributed path gain is assumed. This model was chosen for flexibility (e.g., Rayleigh and Rice channel models can be approximated) and also since empirical data suggests that path fading statistics are adequately described by this distribution. At the receiver an array of M antennas is used to discriminate between the users based on their spatial diversity. The fading process at each of the antenna elements is statistically dependent and further improvements can be realized by making use of the independent fading characteristics of the received signal. To make use of this statistical independent information, the performance of a P branch Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) receiver is also considered. We further investigate the performance of a combination of P clusters of M antennas separated by the coherence bandwidth of the channel, thereby making use of both forms of spatial diversity. A comparison of the three schemes (antenna arrays, MRC diversity and a combination of antenna arrays and MRC diversity) under equal complexity conditions are made under multipath fading conditions. It is shown that the performance and capacity of a MRC diversity receiver outperforms the other two methods when perfect power control is assumed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Linewidth-insensitive coherent AM optical links: design,performance, and potential applications

The use of coherent detection in analog optical links offers several advantages over direct detection: improved receiver sensitivity, inherent frequency translation, and the ability to utilize angle modulation and separate wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) signals. In this paper, we investigate an externally modulated coherent AM optical link. We study the dynamic range of the coherent AM link, considering receiver noise, laser phase noise, laser relative intensity noise (RIN), and system nonlinearities. With proper selection of the receiver's IF bandwidth, the coherent AM link can be made insensitive to the laser linewidth. For optical powers less than 5 mW, RIN of less than -160 dB/Hz reduces the spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) by less than 3 db with the use of a balanced receiver. The external modulator nonlinearity is the dominant nonideal effect; it reduces the SFDR by 5-19 dB from the theoretical limit for 100% modulation index. We compare the performance of the coherent AM link with that of a conventional direct detection link for two applications: point-to-point links and distribution networks. When the received optical power is less than 1 mW, the coherent link can provide higher SFDR than the direct detection link. Thus, coherent links are well-suited for long distance point-to-point links and FM video distribution systems     

Laboratory-simulation experiment for optical communication through low-visibility atmosphere using a diode laser

A laboratory-simulation experiment has been performed to determine the feasibility of exploiting the scattered (in addition to the unscattered) radiation to improve optical communication through low-visibility atmosphere. A multiple field-of-views (FOV) (0.043-0.945degfull angle) optical receiver was designed which utilizes a narrow-band interference filter (Deltalambda sim 15Å) for background-light suppression. The laser transmitter was a CW GaAlAs laser diode (lambda = 0.8486 mum) capable of emitting ∼ 7 mW power output of 15° divergent beam. Both polydisperse (particle diameters,din the range ofsim0.2-5.17 mum) and monodisperse (d sim 0.2 mum andd = 3.01 mum) latex spheres in water were used for simulating haze, fog, etc. Results include signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and scattered-to-unscattered signal ratio as a function of field-of-view of reception for various optical thickness of the medium. Also, SNR is plotted as a function of optical thickness for various FOV's. The unique feature of this simulation is that it can simulate worst case solar background where the sun enters the FOV of receiver. Finally a new technique of estimating forward-scattering efficiency and root-mean-square forward scatter angle has also been presented with examples.     

基于表面等离子激元的自由空间广角接收机研究

Wide field-of-view （FOV） free-space receivers are promising for optical wireless communications, which can reduce the requirements on aiming and tracking. However, the FOV is limited by some tradeoffs of the receiver＇s components employing conventional optical devices. In this paper, we proposed a wide FOV optical receiver based on the extraordinary optical transmission mechanism of surface plasmons on a dielectricmetal interface. The proposed receiver has a flat response over a relative wide range of incidence angles. Moreover, the received optical energy density has been enhanced greatly compared to the incidence. Related mechanisms as well as the optimization method are investigated. Potential applications are also discussed.