Optical Wireless Technologies for B5G

Dear Colleagues,

With the advent of the era of 5G, systems and networks have enabled an array of innovative applications including autonomous driving, immersive VR/AR, Gb/s class mobile broadband communications, and AI-based services.

However, because of the ever-increasing demand from the exploding number of heterogeneous devices and services, research on developing a new architecture with higher data-capacities, more device connection, and better reliable devices/systems/networks is actively taking place worldwide, in the name of B5G (beyond 5G).

Optical wireless technologies provide a promising platform for augmenting the existing framework, through its unlicensed optical spectrum, advanced devices and communication schemes, and eco-friend light spectrum. For THz carriers that have been conceived as the main spectrum for B5G radio-wave communications, optical-waves with similar propagation properties can be an excellent alternative with a significantly high bandwidth and low atmospheric loss, paving a new road to B5G.

Several key research challenges have emerged within the optical wireless technology domain, including (but not limited to) the following:

• Photonics THz communications
• High-speed optical wireless techniques for B5G
• Reconfigurable optical wireless devices and systems
• Machine-learning in optical wireless technologies
• Green OWC/VLC/LiFi devices and systems
• Optical wireless for V2X
• Optical wireless devices, systems, and networks for IoT and Industry 4.0
• Optical wireless energy/power transfer
• OWC transmission for B5G mobile traffic
• Resource allocation and software-defined optical wireless technologies
• Smart illumination/dimming technologies
• Machine-to-machine communications through optical channels
• Physical layer security using VLC
• Short-range/free-space quantum-key-distribution
• Optical camera communications
• Line-of-sight and non-line of sight optical wireless techniques
• Optical wireless localization and positioning
• Advanced optical multiplexing, modulation, and equalization techniques
• Optical transmitters and receiver optimization for B5G
• Underwater and terrestrial optical wireless technologies
• Medical applications of optical wireless communications and techniques
• Packetized Ethernet front-haul for B5G
• Standardization of OWC/VLC/LiFi
• Co-existence/co-operation/hybrid optical- and RF-wave systems

Full length original technical articles with novel contributions within the optical wireless technology domain without restriction are being solicited. Tutorial and survey papers are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Hyunchae Chun
Dr. Sujan Rajbhandari
Prof. Dr. Feng Feng
Prof. Dr. Sung-Man Kim
Prof. Dr. Joonyoung Kim
Guest Editors

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