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Photonics
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New Advances in Optical Wireless Communication
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New Advances in Optical Wireless Communication

A special issue of Photonics (ISSN 2304-6732). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical Communication and Network".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 August 2025 | Viewed by 8170

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Xiaolin Zhou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Information Science and Technology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Interests: optical wireless communication; photon-counting detection; signal processing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Optical wireless communication (OWC) is a crucial research emphasis in the development of next-generation data acquisition and transmission, offering significant applications in either free space or underwater scenarios. However, current OWC systems encounter many challenges from both technical and engineering perspectives. These challenges are exacerbated by the rapid growth of terminal devices and data traffic, the higher requirements for transmission security, the increased density and diversity of link obstructions, etc. Moreover, the popular satellite-to-ground OWC must consider the issues of turbulence, misalignment and beam wander. Therefore, novel advances in OWC are urgently needed.

This Special Issue invites authors working in relevant fields to submit manuscripts that introduce the recent advances in “optical wireless communication”. All types of paper are acceptable, whether theoretical, numerical, or experimental. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Designs of visible-light/infra-red/ultra-violet OWC systems;
  • Estimations and modeling for free-space/indoor/underwater OWC channels;
  • Optical wireless signal processing;
  • Code and modulation schemes in OWC systems;
  • Micro-LED array based optical transmitters;
  • Photon-counting detection;
  • Power control and resource allocation in OWC systems;
  • High-rate and energy-efficient OWC techniques;
  • Physical-layer security of OWC systems;
  • Massive and random access OWC networks;
  • Optical intelligent reflecting surface;
  • Signal compensation under turbulence, beam misalignment, beam wander, etc.

Dr. Xiaolin Zhou
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • optical wireless communications
  • signal processing
  • channel estimation
  • optical devices

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 974 KiB  
Article
Performance Improvement by FRFT-OFDM for Visible Light Communication and Positioning Systems
by Wenyang Li, Zixiong Wang and Jinlong Yu
Photonics 2024, 11(12), 1147; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11121147 - 5 Dec 2024
Viewed by 823
Abstract
In indoor visible light communication (VLC) and visible light positioning (VLP) systems, the performance of conventional orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) schemes is often compromised due to the nonlinear characteristics and limited modulation bandwidth of light-emitting diodes, the multipath effect in enclosed indoor environments, [...] Read more.
In indoor visible light communication (VLC) and visible light positioning (VLP) systems, the performance of conventional orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) schemes is often compromised due to the nonlinear characteristics and limited modulation bandwidth of light-emitting diodes, the multipath effect in enclosed indoor environments, and the relative positions of transmitters and receivers. This paper proposes an OFDM scheme based on the fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) to address these issues, demonstrating promising results when applied to indoor VLC and VLP systems. The FRFT, a generalization of the conventional Fourier transform (FT) in the fractional domain, captures information in both the time and frequency domains, offering greater flexibility than the FT. In this paper, we first introduce the computation method of the reality-preserving FRFT for an intensity modulation/direct detection VLC system and integrate it with OFDM to optimize system performance. By adopting FRFT-OFDM under the optimal fractional order, we enhance both the bit error ratio (BER) performance and positioning accuracy. Simulation results reveal that the FRFT-OFDM scheme with an optimized fractional order significantly improves the BER and positioning accuracy compared to the FT-OFDM scheme across most receiver positions within the indoor observation plane. For communication, the FRFT-OFDM scheme achieves over 6 dB Eb/N0 gain compared to the FT-OFDM scheme at a BER of 3×10−4 when the receiver is positioned at most locations in the room. For positioning, the FRFT-OFDM scheme enhances positioning accuracy by more than 1 cm relative to the FT-OFDM scheme at most locations in the room. Notably, both systems maintain the same computational complexity and spectral efficiency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Optical Wireless Communication)
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14 pages, 4157 KiB  
Article
D-Band 4.6 km 2 × 2 MIMO Photonic-Assisted Terahertz Wireless Communication Utilizing Iterative Pruning Deep Neural Network-Based Nonlinear Equalization
by Jingwen Lin, Sicong Xu, Qihang Wang, Jie Zhang, Jingtao Ge, Siqi Wang, Zhihang Ou, Yuan Ma, Wen Zhou and Jianjun Yu
Photonics 2024, 11(11), 1009; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11111009 - 26 Oct 2024
Viewed by 851
Abstract
In this paper, we explore the enhancement of a 4.6 km dual-polarization 2 × 2 MIMO D-band photonic-assisted terahertz communication system using iterative pruning-based deep neural network (DNN) nonlinear equalization techniques. The system employs advanced digital signal processing (DSP) methods, including down-conversion, resampling, [...] Read more.
In this paper, we explore the enhancement of a 4.6 km dual-polarization 2 × 2 MIMO D-band photonic-assisted terahertz communication system using iterative pruning-based deep neural network (DNN) nonlinear equalization techniques. The system employs advanced digital signal processing (DSP) methods, including down-conversion, resampling, matched filtering, and various equalization algorithms to combat signal distortions. We demonstrate the effectiveness of DNN and iterative pruning techniques in significantly reducing bit error rates (BERs) across a range of symbol rates (10 Gbaud to 30 Gbaud) and polarization states (vertical and horizontal). Before pruning, at 10 GBaud transmission, the lowest BER was 0.0362, and at 30 GBaud transmission, the lowest BER was 0.1826, both of which did not meet the 20% soft-decision forward error correction (SD-FEC) threshold. After pruning, the BER at different transmission rates was reduced to below the hard decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) threshold, indicating a substantial improvement in signal quality. Additionally, the pruning process contributed to a decrease in network complexity, with a maximum reduction of 85.9% for 10 GBaud signals and 63.0% for 30 GBaud signals. These findings indicate the potential of DNN and pruning techniques to enhance the performance and efficiency of terahertz communication systems, providing valuable insights for future high-capacity, long-distance wireless networks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Optical Wireless Communication)
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12 pages, 4790 KiB  
Article
A Superimposed Codebook Design for Downlink Sparse Code Multiple Access Visible Light Communication System
by Jingxuan Dong, Zixiong Wang, Jinlong Yu and Yang Jiang
Photonics 2024, 11(4), 321; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11040321 - 29 Mar 2024
Viewed by 992
Abstract
The capacity performance of visible light communication (VLC) systems can be improved by using sparse code multiple access (SCMA). Since SCMA is a codebook-based multiple access scheme, the design of the codebook is crucial. SCMA codebook performance is severely affected by shot noise. [...] Read more.
The capacity performance of visible light communication (VLC) systems can be improved by using sparse code multiple access (SCMA). Since SCMA is a codebook-based multiple access scheme, the design of the codebook is crucial. SCMA codebook performance is severely affected by shot noise. Although several codebook design metrics have been proposed to compensate for the constellation distortion caused by shot noise, the improvement in performance is limited. In order to solve this problem, we use a separable codebook design structure to derive the analytical expression of the symbol error rate (SER) for the SCMA-VLC system under shot noise. According to the SER expression, we formulate an optimization problem and obtain a multi-user superimposed codebook to achieve a minimum SER for the SCMA-VLC system. The simulation results show that the proposed codebook significantly improves the performance of the SCMA-VLC system, especially in the case of high shot noise. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Optical Wireless Communication)
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18 pages, 1117 KiB  
Article
Performance Analysis of Power Allocation and User-Pairing Techniques for MIMO-NOMA in VLC Systems
by Hesham S. Ibrahim, Mohamed Abaza, Ali Mansour and Ayman Alfalou
Photonics 2024, 11(3), 206; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11030206 - 25 Feb 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1603
Abstract
In this paper, we evaluate the performance of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems applied with a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)-based indoor visible light communication (VLC). We present two efficient user-pairing algorithms for NOMA in VLC, aiming to enhance achievable data rates effectively. Our [...] Read more.
In this paper, we evaluate the performance of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems applied with a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)-based indoor visible light communication (VLC). We present two efficient user-pairing algorithms for NOMA in VLC, aiming to enhance achievable data rates effectively. Our investigation involves the application of three low-complexity power allocation techniques. Comparative analysis reveals performance enhancements when employing the proposed schemes, especially when contrasted with NOMA without user pairing and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA). Additionally, we explore the performance of both algorithms in scenarios with both even and odd numbers of users. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of NOMA in comparison to OFDMA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Optical Wireless Communication)
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12 pages, 15814 KiB  
Article
Optical Signal Attenuation through Smog in Controlled Laboratory Conditions
by Hira Khalid, Sheikh Muhammad Sajid, Muhammad Imran Cheema and Erich Leitgeb
Photonics 2024, 11(2), 172; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics11020172 - 12 Feb 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1689
Abstract
Free-space optical (FSO) communication is a line-of-sight (LOS) communication technology that uses light, typically lasers, to transmit data through the atmosphere. FSO can provide high data transfer rates, but factors like weather conditions can affect its performance. Like fog, smog also degrades the [...] Read more.
Free-space optical (FSO) communication is a line-of-sight (LOS) communication technology that uses light, typically lasers, to transmit data through the atmosphere. FSO can provide high data transfer rates, but factors like weather conditions can affect its performance. Like fog, smog also degrades the availability and reliability of FSO links, as the particulate matter (PM) present in smog scatters the light beam, causing perceptible attenuation. In this paper, we have investigated the attenuation of an optical signal under laboratory-controlled smog conditions, using both theoretical and experimental approaches. A 6 m long acrylic chamber is used to contain artificial smog and measure the optical attenuation through it. The experimental result shows that smog attenuation is approximately 1.705 times more than fog attenuation. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the effects of smog on optical links and can contribute to the development and optimization of these systems in regions with high levels of smog. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Optical Wireless Communication)
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9 pages, 347 KiB  
Communication
Gaussian-Shaped Free-Space Optical Beam Intensity Estimation in Detector Arrays
by Muhammad Ali Umair, Hira Khalid, Sheikh Muhammad Sajid and Hector E. Nistazakis
Photonics 2023, 10(8), 930; https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10080930 - 14 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1347
Abstract
Photon counting detector arrays are commonly used for deep space optical communication receivers operating on the principle of intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD). In scenarios where beam parameters can vary at the receiver due to scattering, it is important to estimate beam parameters in [...] Read more.
Photon counting detector arrays are commonly used for deep space optical communication receivers operating on the principle of intensity modulation/direct detection (IM/DD). In scenarios where beam parameters can vary at the receiver due to scattering, it is important to estimate beam parameters in order to minimize the probability of error. The use of array of detectors increases the sensitivity of the receiver as compared to single photo-detector of the same size. In this paper, we present the derivation of a maximum likelihood estimator (ML) for peak optical intensity, providing both numerical and closed form expressions for the estimator. Performance of both forms of ML estimator are compared using the mean squared error (MSE) criterion and Cramer–Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) is also derived to assess the proposed estimator’s efficiency. This research contributed to the advancement of estimation techniques and has practical implications for optimizing deep space optical communication systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Advances in Optical Wireless Communication)
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