Bi-Directional Free-Space Visible Light Communication Supporting Multiple Moveable Clients Using Light Diffusing Optical Fiber

Sensors (Basel). 2023 May 13;23(10):4725. doi: 10.3390/s23104725.

Abstract

In this work, we put forward and demonstrate a bi-direction free-space visible light communication (VLC) system supporting multiple moveable receivers (Rxs) using a light-diffusing optical fiber (LDOF). The downlink (DL) signal is launched from a head-end or central office (CO) far away to the LDOF at the client side via a free-space transmission. When the DL signal is launched to the LDOF, which acts as an optical antenna to re-transmit the DL signal to different moveable Rxs. The uplink (UL) signal is sent via the LDOF towards the CO. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, the LDOF is 100 cm long, and the free space VLC transmission between the CO and the LDOF is 100 cm. 210 Mbit/s DL and 850 Mbit/s UL transmissions meet the pre-forward-error-correction bit error rate (pre-FEC BER = 3.8 × 10-3) threshold.

Keywords: laser diode (LD); light diffusing optical fiber (LDOF); light-diffusing optical fiber (LDOF); optical wireless communication (OWC); visible light communication (VLC).