Optical Wireless Communications: Enabling the Next Generation Network of Networks

TL;DR

This paper discusses optical wireless communication (OWC) as a promising complementary technology for future networks, highlighting its current maturity, diverse applications, technological advances, and potential to enhance network capabilities beyond traditional RF systems.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of OWC's current state, emerging technological opportunities, and its role in building resilient, convergent future networks alongside existing communication technologies.

Findings

OWC is a mature technology with diverse applications.

Emerging technologies can further enhance OWC capabilities.

OWC can support value-added services like positioning and gesture recognition.

Abstract

Optical wireless communication (OWC) is a promising technology anticipated to play a key role in the next-generation network of networks, especially as a complementary technology to traditional radio frequency communications, for enhancing networking capabilities beyond conventional terrestrial networks. OWC is already a mature technology with diverse usage scenarios, and can enable integrated applications via wireless access and backhaul networks, dynamic drone and satellite networks, underwater networks, inter- and intra-system interconnecting networks, and vehicular communication networks. Furthermore, novel and emerging technological opportunities such as photovoltaic cells, orbital angular momentum-based modulation, optical reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, organic light-emitting and photo diodes, and recent advances in ultraviolet communications can help enhance future OWC capabilities even further. Moreover, OWC networks can also support value-added services such as enhanced positioning and gesture recognition. Hence, OWC provides unique functionalities that can play a crucial role in building convergent and resilient future network of networks alongside radio frequency and optical fiber technologies.