New Perspectives in Free-Space Optical Communications and Networks

Dear Colleagues,

Free-space communications at optical frequencies will bring about a paradigm shift in global communications, relieving the bottleneck caused by radio frequency (RF) communications and its limitations. Similar to the advent of optical fibre communications, free-space data capacity will be increased by orders of magnitude, and the high directionality of optical beams affords increased security and negates the need for spectrum regulation.

Overcoming the challenges of free-space optical communications has drawn expertise beyond those traditionally found in the telecommunications industry, calling on researchers from fields such as astronomy and adaptive optics, machine learning, and others. This Special Issue aims to showcase these new perspectives in free-space optical communications, and we invite theoretical and experimental papers on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

• adaptive optics and other turbulence mitigation techniques;
• free-space optical communication systems and network architectures;
• novel modulation/multiplexing techniques such as modulating retroreflectors;
• ultra-high data rate demonstrations;
• machine learning/AI-assisted weather forecasting/scheduling for optical ground stations.

We encourage submissions on any topic of relevance to the implementation of free-space (unguided) optical communications.

Dr. Shane Walsh
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.