ZTE

ZTE Communications ›› 2016, Vol. 14 ›› Issue (2): 13-22.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5188.2016.02.002

• Special Topic • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Short-Range Optical Wireless Communications for Indoor and Interconnects Applications

WANG Ke1,2,3, Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas2, Christina Lim2, SONG Tingting2,4, LIANG Tian2, Kamal Alameh5, Efstratios Skafidas1,2   

  1. 1. Center for Neural Engineering (CfNE), The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia;
    2. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia;
    3. Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA;
    4. National Key Laboratory of Tunable Laser Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China;
    5. Electron Science Research Institute (ESRI), Edith Cowan University, WA 6027, Australia
  • Received:2016-01-27 Online:2016-04-01 Published:2019-11-27
  • About author:WANG Ke (ke.wang@unimelb.edu.au) received his BSc degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China in 2009, and the PhD degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from The University of Melbourne, Australia in 2014. He is currently an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) fellow at Center for Neural Engineering (CfNE), Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne. He is also a Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford University, USA. He has authored or co-authored over 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. His current research interests include silicon photonics integration, optical wireless technology, high-speed personal area networks, and optical interconnects. He has been awarded the IEEE Photonics Society Postgraduate Student Fellowship, the Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Fellowship, the ARC DECRA Fellowship, and the Victoria Fellowship.
    Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas (nirmalat@unimelb.edu.au) is a professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Melbourne, Australia. He is also the director of Melbourne Networked Society Institute—an interdisciplinary research institute focusing on challenges and opportunities arising from the society’s transition towards a networked society. He also co-founded and provides academic leadership to the Australia’s first university based start-up accelerator—Melbourne Accelerator Program, aimed at promoting entrepreneurship culture on campus. Prof Nirmalathas obtained his BEng and PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Melbourne in 1993 and 1998 respectively. Between 2010 and 2013, he was the Head of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Between 2013 and 2014, He was the associate director for the Institute for Broadband-Enabled Society. He has written more than 400 technical articles and currently hold three active international patents. His current research interests include energy efficient telecommunications, access networks, optical-wireless network integration and broadband systems and devices. He has held many editorial roles with IEICE Transactions in Communications, IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology and Photonics and Networks SPIE Journal. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, a member of Optical Society of America and a fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia.
    Christina Lim (chrislim@unimelb.edu.au) received the BE and PhD degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1995 and 2000, respectively. She is currently a professor at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the University of Melbourne, Australia. She served as the director of the Photonics and Electronics Research Laboratory at the same department from 2011-2015. She was awarded the Australian Research Council (ARC) Australian Research Fellowship from 2004-2008 and the ARC Future Fellow (2009-2013). Between 2003 and 2005, she was a key researcher and also the project leader of the Australian Photonics CRC Fiber-to-the-Premises Challenge Project. Her research interests include fiber-wireless access technology, modeling of optical and wireless communication systems, microwave photonics, application of mode - locked lasers, optical network architectures and optical signal monitoring. She is a member of the IEEE Photonics Society Board of Governors (2015-2017). She is also a member of the Steering Committee for the IEEE Topical Meeting on Microwave Photonics Conference. She is currently an associate editor for the IEEE Photonics Society Newsletter, IEEE Photonics Technology Letter and IET Electronics Letter. She is also a member of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technique Subcommittee 3 (MTT3) - Microwave Photonics Technical Committee.
    SONG Tingting (tingting.song@unimelb.edu.au) is a PhD student in Optical Engineering at the Harbin Institute of Technology, China. Currently, she is working as a visiting PhD student at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Melbourne, Australia. She received the BE degree in Measurement Technology and Instrument from the Northeastern University, China, in 2010, and the ME degree in Detection Technology and Automation Instrument from the Northeastern University, China, in 2012. Her previous studies were in fiber-optic sensor design and optical sensing component design, and her current research interests include optical wireless communication system design, optical component design and integration for optical communication and optical sensing, and free space optical technology.
    LIANG Tian (tliang2@student.unimelb.edu.au) received BE and BE (Hons) degrees in optoelectronics engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology, China, and electronic and communication systems from Australian National University, Australia, respectively. She is currently working towards the Ph.D degree in electrical and electronic engineering at Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. She received Chancellor’s Letters of Commendation, CEA Technologies Prize in Telecommunications, College Dean’s List Prize and International Student Scholarship of ANU during her undergraduate period. She held a research internship at network group of National ICT Australia (NICTA) Canberra Research Laboratory in 2014. Her research interests include indoor optical wireless communication systems, converged fibre-wireless access network and broadband optical access networks.
    Kamal Alameh (k.alameh@ecu.edu.au) received the MEng degree in photonics from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1989, and the PhD degree in photonics from the University of Sydney, Australia in 1993. He is currently a professor of microphotonics and the director of the Electron Science Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, Australia. He has pioneered the integration of microelectronic and photonic sciences and developed a new and practical research area,“MicroPhotonics,”and he is currently involved in research and development on Opto-VLSI, optoelectronics, and micro/nanophotonics targeting innovative solutions to fundamental issues in ICT, agriculture, health, energy, consumer electronics, and security and defence. He has authored or co-authored more than 350 peer-reviewed journals and conference papers, including three book chapters, and filed 28 patents. He received the WA Inventor of the Year (Early Stage) Award in 2007, Inaugural Vice-Chancellor Award for Excellence in Research, Edith Cowan University, Australia, in 2008, and Khalil Gibran International Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research, in 2010.
    Efstratios Skafidas (sskaf@unimelb.edu.au) has focused his research in the areas of novel nanoelectronic systems, communications technologies and smart antenna theory, since completing his PhD in 1998. His work has led to innovative new millimeter wave communication systems on CMOS and is the basis on new biomedical devices. His research is currently incorporated in multiple international communication standards and has led to the establishment of two start up companies. Professor Skafidas is the Clifford Chair in Neural Engineering and Director for the Center for Neural Engineering (CfNE) at the University of Melbourne. Professor Skafidas played an integral role in establishing the CfNE, an interdisciplinary center established to undertake research in neursoscience and neural diseases by drawing together Australia’s leading neuroscientists, neurologists, psychiatrists, chemists, physicists and engineers.
  • Supported by:
    This work is supported under Australian Research Council’s Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) funding scheme(project number DE150100924); The University of Melbourne’s Early Career Researcher (ECR) funding scheme(project number 602702); the Victoria Fellowship(D2015/35025)

Short-Range Optical Wireless Communications for Indoor and Interconnects Applications

WANG Ke1,2,3, Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas2, Christina Lim2, SONG Tingting2,4, LIANG Tian2, Kamal Alameh5, Efstratios Skafidas1,2   

  1. 1. Center for Neural Engineering (CfNE), The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia;
    2. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia;
    3. Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA;
    4. National Key Laboratory of Tunable Laser Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China;
    5. Electron Science Research Institute (ESRI), Edith Cowan University, WA 6027, Australia
  • 作者简介:WANG Ke (ke.wang@unimelb.edu.au) received his BSc degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), China in 2009, and the PhD degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from The University of Melbourne, Australia in 2014. He is currently an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) fellow at Center for Neural Engineering (CfNE), Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne. He is also a Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford University, USA. He has authored or co-authored over 70 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. His current research interests include silicon photonics integration, optical wireless technology, high-speed personal area networks, and optical interconnects. He has been awarded the IEEE Photonics Society Postgraduate Student Fellowship, the Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Fellowship, the ARC DECRA Fellowship, and the Victoria Fellowship.
    Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas (nirmalat@unimelb.edu.au) is a professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Melbourne, Australia. He is also the director of Melbourne Networked Society Institute—an interdisciplinary research institute focusing on challenges and opportunities arising from the society’s transition towards a networked society. He also co-founded and provides academic leadership to the Australia’s first university based start-up accelerator—Melbourne Accelerator Program, aimed at promoting entrepreneurship culture on campus. Prof Nirmalathas obtained his BEng and PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Melbourne in 1993 and 1998 respectively. Between 2010 and 2013, he was the Head of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Between 2013 and 2014, He was the associate director for the Institute for Broadband-Enabled Society. He has written more than 400 technical articles and currently hold three active international patents. His current research interests include energy efficient telecommunications, access networks, optical-wireless network integration and broadband systems and devices. He has held many editorial roles with IEICE Transactions in Communications, IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology and Photonics and Networks SPIE Journal. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, a member of Optical Society of America and a fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia.
    Christina Lim (chrislim@unimelb.edu.au) received the BE and PhD degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1995 and 2000, respectively. She is currently a professor at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the University of Melbourne, Australia. She served as the director of the Photonics and Electronics Research Laboratory at the same department from 2011-2015. She was awarded the Australian Research Council (ARC) Australian Research Fellowship from 2004-2008 and the ARC Future Fellow (2009-2013). Between 2003 and 2005, she was a key researcher and also the project leader of the Australian Photonics CRC Fiber-to-the-Premises Challenge Project. Her research interests include fiber-wireless access technology, modeling of optical and wireless communication systems, microwave photonics, application of mode - locked lasers, optical network architectures and optical signal monitoring. She is a member of the IEEE Photonics Society Board of Governors (2015-2017). She is also a member of the Steering Committee for the IEEE Topical Meeting on Microwave Photonics Conference. She is currently an associate editor for the IEEE Photonics Society Newsletter, IEEE Photonics Technology Letter and IET Electronics Letter. She is also a member of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technique Subcommittee 3 (MTT3) - Microwave Photonics Technical Committee.
    SONG Tingting (tingting.song@unimelb.edu.au) is a PhD student in Optical Engineering at the Harbin Institute of Technology, China. Currently, she is working as a visiting PhD student at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The University of Melbourne, Australia. She received the BE degree in Measurement Technology and Instrument from the Northeastern University, China, in 2010, and the ME degree in Detection Technology and Automation Instrument from the Northeastern University, China, in 2012. Her previous studies were in fiber-optic sensor design and optical sensing component design, and her current research interests include optical wireless communication system design, optical component design and integration for optical communication and optical sensing, and free space optical technology.
    LIANG Tian (tliang2@student.unimelb.edu.au) received BE and BE (Hons) degrees in optoelectronics engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology, China, and electronic and communication systems from Australian National University, Australia, respectively. She is currently working towards the Ph.D degree in electrical and electronic engineering at Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. She received Chancellor’s Letters of Commendation, CEA Technologies Prize in Telecommunications, College Dean’s List Prize and International Student Scholarship of ANU during her undergraduate period. She held a research internship at network group of National ICT Australia (NICTA) Canberra Research Laboratory in 2014. Her research interests include indoor optical wireless communication systems, converged fibre-wireless access network and broadband optical access networks.
    Kamal Alameh (k.alameh@ecu.edu.au) received the MEng degree in photonics from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 1989, and the PhD degree in photonics from the University of Sydney, Australia in 1993. He is currently a professor of microphotonics and the director of the Electron Science Research Institute, Edith Cowan University, Australia. He has pioneered the integration of microelectronic and photonic sciences and developed a new and practical research area,“MicroPhotonics,”and he is currently involved in research and development on Opto-VLSI, optoelectronics, and micro/nanophotonics targeting innovative solutions to fundamental issues in ICT, agriculture, health, energy, consumer electronics, and security and defence. He has authored or co-authored more than 350 peer-reviewed journals and conference papers, including three book chapters, and filed 28 patents. He received the WA Inventor of the Year (Early Stage) Award in 2007, Inaugural Vice-Chancellor Award for Excellence in Research, Edith Cowan University, Australia, in 2008, and Khalil Gibran International Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research, in 2010.
    Efstratios Skafidas (sskaf@unimelb.edu.au) has focused his research in the areas of novel nanoelectronic systems, communications technologies and smart antenna theory, since completing his PhD in 1998. His work has led to innovative new millimeter wave communication systems on CMOS and is the basis on new biomedical devices. His research is currently incorporated in multiple international communication standards and has led to the establishment of two start up companies. Professor Skafidas is the Clifford Chair in Neural Engineering and Director for the Center for Neural Engineering (CfNE) at the University of Melbourne. Professor Skafidas played an integral role in establishing the CfNE, an interdisciplinary center established to undertake research in neursoscience and neural diseases by drawing together Australia’s leading neuroscientists, neurologists, psychiatrists, chemists, physicists and engineers.
  • 基金资助:
    This work is supported under Australian Research Council’s Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) funding scheme(project number DE150100924); The University of Melbourne’s Early Career Researcher (ECR) funding scheme(project number 602702); the Victoria Fellowship(D2015/35025)

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Abstract: Optical wireless communications have been widely studied during the past decade in short-range applications, such as indoor high-speed wireless networks and interconnects in data centers and high-performance computing. In this paper, recent developments in high-speed short-range optical wireless communications are reviewed, including visible light communications (VLCs), infrared in-door communication systems, and reconfigurable optical interconnects. The general architecture of indoor high-speed optical wireless communications is described, and the advantages and limitations of both visible and infrared based solutions are discussed. The concept of reconfigurable optical interconnects is presented, and key results are summarized. In addition, the challenges and potential future directions of short-range optical wireless communications are discussed.

Key words: indoor infrared communications, optical wireless communications, reconfigurable optical interconnects, visible light communica-tions

摘要： Optical wireless communications have been widely studied during the past decade in short-range applications, such as indoor high-speed wireless networks and interconnects in data centers and high-performance computing. In this paper, recent developments in high-speed short-range optical wireless communications are reviewed, including visible light communications (VLCs), infrared in-door communication systems, and reconfigurable optical interconnects. The general architecture of indoor high-speed optical wireless communications is described, and the advantages and limitations of both visible and infrared based solutions are discussed. The concept of reconfigurable optical interconnects is presented, and key results are summarized. In addition, the challenges and potential future directions of short-range optical wireless communications are discussed.

关键词: indoor infrared communications, optical wireless communications, reconfigurable optical interconnects, visible light communica-tions