Evaluation of reflected light effect for indoor wireless optical CDMA system

This is a study on the effect of reflected light on optical code-division multiple-access (CDMA) system over indoor optical wireless communication (OWC). The indoor propagation channel model which takes multiple reflecting surfaces into account was addressed. Theoretical analysis of the pulse response of direct light and reflected light is given. Bit error rate (BER) of this system is analyzed considering reflected light, background light, avalanche photo-diode (APD) noise, thermal noise, and multi-user interference. The results prove that the BER of the system is influenced by the reflected light and the effect of reflected light is related to the room size and receiver position. With the increase of user number, the effect of reflected light becomes stronger and it is a significant source of inter-symbol interference. It becomes clear that when OCDMA is used to an indoor optical wireless system, the effect of reflected light is a key issue to be considered.