2024/12/31 by Aravindh Krishnamoorthy, Hossein Safi, Othman Isam Younus +20 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Engineering · #Advanced Optical Network Technologies #Advanced Photonic Communication Systems
paper · doi:10.1109/mvt.2025.3555366
openalex publication_date 2025/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Optical wireless communication (OWC) is a promising technology anticipated to play a key role in the next-generation network of networks (NoNs), especially as a complementary technology to traditional radio-frequency (RF) communications, for enhancing networking capabilities beyond conventional terrestrial networks. OWC is already a mature technology with diverse usage scenarios and can enable integrated applications via wireless access and backhaul networks, dynamic drone and satellite networks, underwater networks, inter- and intrasystem interconnecting networks, and vehicular communication networks. Furthermore, novel and emerging technological opportunities such as photovoltaic cells, orbital angular momentum-based modulation, optical reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, organic light-emitting and photo diodes, and recent advances in ultraviolet communications can help to enhance future OWC capabilities even further. Moreover, OWC networks can also support value-added services such as enhanced positioning and gesture recognition. Hence, OWC provides unique functionalities that can play a crucial role in building convergent and resilient future NoNs alongside RF and optical fiber technologies.