sensors-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Recent Advances in Optical Wireless Communications

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Communications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 1274

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
Interests: visible light communication (VLC); LiFi systems; Internet of Things; low-power wireless communications; next generation wireless networks; mobile communications

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Signal Theory and Communications, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 30 28911 Leganés, Spain
Interests: optical communication;visible light communication; wireless communications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The ever-increasing demand for wireless communication services has led to the search for alternatives that can fulfill such demand. Recent progress in solid-state lighting, lasers, and detectors has propelled optical wireless communications (OWCs) to the forefront of future wireless technologies.

This Special Issue entitled “Recent Advances in Optical Wireless Communications” explores this exciting field. We encourage the research community to submit original and unpublished papers falling into the OWC topic, including systems research, development, and applications. Research papers invoking any modality of optical wireless communications are welcome, including free-space optics (FSO), visible light communication (VLC), infrared (IR) communication, and its networked version light fidelity (LiFi).

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

  • Visible light communication;
  • Infrared communication;
  • Free-space optics;
  • LiFi systems;
  • Vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL)-based LiFi;
  • OWC-based Internet of Things;
  • Optical reflective intelligent surfaces (ORISs);
  • Energy efficiency in OWC;
  • Spectrum efficiency in OWC;
  • Simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer (SLIPT);
  • Passive light communication and sensing;
  • Resource-constrained OWC;
  • Hybrid OWC/RF networks;
  • Underwater optical communications;
  • OWC applications;
  • Industrial applications of OWC.

Dr. Borja Genoves Guzman
Dr. Maximo Morales-Céspedes
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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.

Keywords

  • optical wireless communications
  • free-space optics (FSO)
  • visible light communication (VLC)
  • infrared (IR)
  • communication light fidelity (LiFi)

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 956 KiB  
Article
Digital Frequency-Domain MIMO Equalizer Enabling Six-LP-Mode Strong-Coupling IM/DD MDM Optical Transmission System
by Jianyu Long, Chen Wang, Ying Wu, Bohan Sang, Chengzhen Bian, Xiongwei Yang, Long Zhang, Yifan Chen, Qinyi Zhang, Ying Wang, Yichen Li, Wen Zhou, Kaihui Wang, Bo Liu, Lei Shen and Jianjun Yu
Sensors 2025, 25(8), 2562; https://doi.org/10.3390/s25082562 - 18 Apr 2025
Viewed by 121
Abstract
Mode division multiplexing (MDM) techniques provide significant enhancement of the capacity of optical intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) short-reach communication systems, like the datacenter interconnection scenarios. While the introduction of multiple modes leads to mode coupling that will extremely deteriorate the received [...] Read more.
Mode division multiplexing (MDM) techniques provide significant enhancement of the capacity of optical intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) short-reach communication systems, like the datacenter interconnection scenarios. While the introduction of multiple modes leads to mode coupling that will extremely deteriorate the received signals, two approaches have been explored to address this issue: one involves the application of all-link weakly coupled components to suppress modal crosstalk, while the other utilizes optical multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) equalizers based on optical devices for signal decoupling. However, pure digital signal processing (DSP)-based schemes for mode decoupling in IM/DD MDM systems with strong mode coupling remain unexplored. In this paper, we propose to use a frequency-domain MIMO equalizer for compensating the modal interference in the strong-coupling linear-polarized (LP) MDM IM/DD system. The signal recovery capability of the proposed method is verified through numerical simulation. Finally, we successfully experimentally demonstrate the transmission of on–off-key (OOK) signals in a six-LP-mode strong-coupling MDM IM/DD system over a 10 km few-mode fiber, employing a pair of strong-coupling mode multiplexers/demultiplexers. The experimental results indicate that, with the frequency-domain MIMO equalizer, OOK signals from all modes can be recovered with an 11% hard-decision forward error correction threshold of 8.3 × 103. The proposed method facilitated by flexible DSP software offers an alternative for short-reach communication systems and has the potential to advance the practical application of MDM techniques in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Optical Wireless Communications)
Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 2931 KiB  
Article
On the Performance of Energy Harvesting Dual-Hop Free-Space Optical Communication Systems with Secrecy Analysis
by Abdulgani A. Ibrahim, Serdar Özgür Ata and Lütfiye Durak-Ata
Sensors 2025, 25(2), 319; https://doi.org/10.3390/s25020319 - 8 Jan 2025
Viewed by 743
Abstract
In this study, we present a dual-hop decode-and-forward relaying-based free-space optical (FSO) communication system. We consider utilizing simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer (SLIPT) with a time-splitting technique at the relay, where the direct current component of the received optical signal is harvested [...] Read more.
In this study, we present a dual-hop decode-and-forward relaying-based free-space optical (FSO) communication system. We consider utilizing simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer (SLIPT) with a time-splitting technique at the relay, where the direct current component of the received optical signal is harvested as a transmit power for the relay. It is assumed that the FSO links experience a Malaga turbulence channel with pointing errors. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed communication system, closed-form expressions for outage probability, ergodic capacity, average bit error rate, and throughput are derived. Additionally, to analyze the physical layer security of the proposed system, closed-form expressions for secrecy outage probability and strictly positive secrecy capacity are obtained. Finally, the accuracy of the derived analytical expressions are validated with Monte Carlo simulations. Results show that our proposed system model outperforms its non-SLIPT counterpart. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Optical Wireless Communications)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop