Considerations on the design of sectored receivers for wireless optical channels using a Monte-Carlo-based ray-tracing algorithm

A study of the design of a sectored receiver structure that offers improved performance with respect to the main infrared channel parameters, such as path loss and rms delay spread, is presented. To this end, a model for the effective signal collection area of a sectored receiver is presented and validated that, through the use of a Monte-Carlo-based ray-tracing algorithm, allows us to obtain the channel impulse response. The simulation results presented show the effect of the orientation and field of view (FOV) of each sector on the quality of the received signal. On the basis of these results, the use of a sectored receiver, composed of three crowns of sectors with different vertical and horizontal FOVs, has been proposed that minimizes the multipath dispersion and power requirements.