Optical Wireless Communications: IR for Wireless Connectivity

Over the last three decades, interest in Infrared (IR) technology as a medium to convey information has grown considerably. This is reflected by the increasing number of devices such as laptops, PDAs, and mobile phones that incorporate optical wireless transceivers and also by the increasing number of optical wireless links available for indoor and outdoor use. The popularity of IR is based on the advantages it has over radio including unregulated bandwidth, immunity to radio interference, and inherent security. Optical Wireless Communications examines some of the most important features of optical wireless communication systems. It considers the benefits and limitations of IR as a medium conveying information wirelessly and compares the advantages and disadvantages of infrared to microwave and other radio systems. It also details the evolution of IR communication systems and describes atmospheric and other types of data transmission limitations. The book presents design fundamentals of optical concentrators, as well as a review of some of the most important receiver optical front-ends (containing imaging or non-imaging concentrators and optical filters), including an explanation of the different sources of infrared noise and an introduction to eye safety. It also describes optical wireless transmitter and receiver design issues, typical modulation, coding, and multiple access techniques, and introduces IrDA protocols and wireless IR networking.

About the Authors

Dr. Roberto Ramirez-Iniguez received a B.Eng. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in 1996, and an M.Sc. in Communications and Real-Time Electronic Systems from the University of Bradford in 1998. After obtaining his first degree, he worked for a short period of time for Tektronix Mexico in the area of Tools and Business Units. In 1998, he started postgraduate studies at the University of Warwick, from which he received his Ph.D. in 2002. Shortly afterwards, he began working as a researcher for Optical Antenna Solutions within the Communications and Signal Processing group in the Photonics and Communications Laboratory of Warwick University. He currently is a lecturer in Communications and Embedded Systems at Glasgow Caledonian University.

His areas of interest include optical wireless communications, optical antennae design, and research on directive elements for wireless IR transmitters and receivers.

Dr. Sevia M. Idrus is Deputy Director of the Photonics Technology Centre in the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She received a B.Eng. and a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering both from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She obtained a Ph.D. in Optical Communication Systems from the University of Warwick in 2004. She has worked at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia since 1998, both as academic and administrative staff. Her main areas of research include the characterization, modeling, and design of opto-electronic devices, radio-over-fiber systems, optical transceiver design, and optical wireless communication technology.

Dr. Ziran Sun received a B.Eng. degree in Automation Control in 1995 and an M.Sc. in Communication and Electronics in 1998 in China. In 1999, she was awarded an ORS scholarship from the British Government and a Studentship from the University of Warwick for doctoral studies. She was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Warwick in 2005. In 2002, she worked as a Researcher in the University of Bradford and later moved to the University of Cambridge (in 2004). She joined the telecommunications industry in 2005, where she currently works as a software engineer. Her areas of interest include optical wireless communications, communications protocol design for mobile hosts, and wireless networks.