Green indoor optical wireless communication systems: Pathway towards pervasive deployment

The Optical Wireless Communication (OWC) offers the high capacity of optical fiber communication with the flexibility of wireless communication. Since it works in the optical region of the ElectroMagnetic (EM) spectrum, it guarantees safety and security which are critical in radio and microwave frequency communication. The principal objective of this paper is to analyze the indoor OWC systems on these guaranteed features, and safety and security are jointly denoted by the term green. The high obstacle impermeability of optical signals and their directivity strengthen the security of indoor OWC data transmission. The confidentiality and authenticity of optical wireless data can also be preserved with the Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). This paper provides a technological overview and a review of literature about the OWC system that helps to identify the challenges in the path of a ubiquitous deployment of green wireless communication systems. Significant advancements in the sources and detectors are discussed together with the coding, modulation and multiplexing techniques for making highly robust OWC links. The ubiquitous deployment of green OWC necessitates the development of optical transmitters and receivers, performance enhancement techniques, incorporation of uplink and energy harvesting abilities, and safety and security enhancement techniques. Hence, a special emphasis is placed on these aspects and their challenges towards the green implementation. Furthermore, the paper explores some significant indoor applications based on the OWC that have great impacts on the Next Generation Networks (NGN) and the Internet of Things (IoT).