A cellular optical wireless system demonstrator

The interest in optical wireless communication systems is driven by the potential advantages over radio. Amongst other benefits, the absence of regulation for optical frequencies promises higher available bandwidth per user. Various system topologies have been proposed for such links in an indoor environment and previous work has involved the use of multi-element antennas to achieve coverage. In this paper, an optical wireless link employing a multi-element receiver as well as transmitter is considered. The segmented receiver structure takes advantage of the many received signals to achieve a high optical gain, and sufficiently wide field-of-view to realise solid-state tracking. A demonstration system has been constructed in the lab, which, although limited in range and coverage, and exceeding eye-safety limits, nevertheless permits experimental investigation of issues such as cell size and handover