Prism array-based receiver with application in MIMO indoor optical wireless communications

In this paper, a prism array-based receiver for intensity-modulated direct-detection (IM/DD) optical wireless systems has been investigated. The receiver uses an array of prisms to achieve angular diversity within a compact receiver structure. The transmission of light through a prism onto a photodetecting surface is presented, showing the power loss of the light. The resulting channel gains are determined and show that the new receiver has a wide field of view (FOV). This receiver is then applied in a typical room using lighting light emitting diodes (LEDs) as transmitters. It is shown that there is relatively little variation in performance as a function of the position of the receiver within the room. This means that the new structure can form the basis of robust optical wireless MIMO systems.