A high-capacity indoor optical wireless LAN architecture

The increased use of portable computing and multimedia terminals in recent years has led to a growth in interest in the area of high-speed wireless digital links and local area networks (LANs). The requirement is for a communication medium that has high speed, low cost, low power consumption and high-level of security. Traditionally, radio frequency (RF) transmission is used in wireless applications. However, the RF spectrum is so congested that it is very difficult to accommodate new high-bit-rate applications. Optical infrared radiation (IR) with low implementation complexity and no spectrum license requirements can provide a possible solution. This paper presents the architecture and the design aspects of an eye-safe, high-speed optical wireless link for wireless connectivity among the stationary and mobile wireless data terminals within a room and terminals on backbone.