Indoor broadband optical wireless communications: optical subsystems designs and their impact on channel characteristics

With proper system design, infrared multispot diffusing (MSD) configuration communications links promise several orders of magnitude higher bit rates than radio links. Essential to the communications system are the optical subsystems: transmitter and receiver optics. Preliminary experiments on fabrication of beamshaping optical elements for the transmitter and receiver optical front-end have been conducted. The impact of optical subsystems on channel characteristics is investigated, and the results undoubtedly prove the great potential of MSDC. Use of holographic optical elements at both transmitter and receiver increases the signal-to-noise ratio by at least 11 dB and at the same time significantly improves the power budget of the system by reducing path loss by more than 6 dB.