Challenges and Opportunities in Optical and Wireless Communication Networks

Dear Colleagues,

The capacity demand for wireless communications is rapidly growing. In the 5G era, a peak capacity of 20 Gb/s is specified for enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) applications, and in some preliminary proposals/whitepapers, >100 Gb/s peak capacity is also discussed for the beyond 5G (B5G) systems. Within the big plans of the 5G systems, other than upgradation in the ever-increasing capacity, ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC) applications are also significantly concerned, which are the key elements to flexibly and reliably accomplish ultimately smart applications, building upon machine-type communications or Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. The stringent transmission requirements for wireless systems cast big challenges in many areas, from device cost to system design issues. Optical technologies have become a key option behind these challenges. Digital/analog radio over fiber (D/A-RoF) technologies have been actively studied to more efficiently transport data in the radio access networks (RANs), building upon backhaul, fronthaul, midhaul, or x-haul connections. Advanced photonics technologies have also been widely introduced in the generation, synthesis, and detection of radio signals. Meanwhile, optical wireless communication (OWC) which directly applies IR or visible light (also referred to as visible light communication (VLC)) as the wireless transmission carriers are widely developed as complementary or offloading options of radio-based systems.

This Special Issue aims to discuss the challenges and opportunities of wireless communication networks and their potential optical solutions, covering potential development directions, challenges, and frontier technologies. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• 5G/B5G optical wireless convergent networks;
• Radio access network (RAN);
• Radio over fiber;
• Microwave/millimeter-wave photonics;
• Optical wireless communication (OWC);
• Visible light communication (VLC);
• Advanced signal processing.

Dr. Jiun-Yu Sung
Dr. Hiroki Kishikawa
Dr. Jhih-Heng Yan
Guest Editors

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