Next-Generation Optical Wireless Communication: Emerging Research and Opportunities

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few decades, research on optical wireless communication (OWC) has been ongoing due to its great potential in providing faster data rates, larger capacity, and higher reliability. Particularly, as a class of OWC, visible light communication (VLC) has been proposed as a promising technology for the high-speed wireless access of indoor short-distance users and indoor optical positioning. In addition to the above indoor scenarios, there are also free-space optical (FSO) systems for atmospheric and satellite communication and underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC) systems used for underwater data exchange. However, at present, there are still some existing problems which significantly restrict the development of OWC systems and should be further addressed in next-generation OWC, such as providing high-quality service for multiple users, enhancing compatibility with existing systems, improving robustness, adaptability, and the intelligence of systems, among other things.

The aim of the Special Issue of Electronics is to attract original and novel articles in the field of next-generation OWC. Authors are invited to submit manuscripts within the scope of the topics including, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Optical system structure design and performance analysis;
• Optical network protocols and architectures;
• Optical links reliability and security;
• Free space optical wireless communication (terrestrial and satellite);
• Underwater optical wireless communication;
• Visible light communication (communication and optical positioning);
• Sensing and optical wireless communication convergence;
• Radio frequency/optical wireless communication hybrid systems and networks;
• Novel materials and devices for next-generation optical wireless communication.

Prof. Dr. Ping Wang
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.

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