Broadband Infrared Access with a Multi-Spot Diffusing Configuration: Performance

We evaluate transmission link performance for a Multi-Spot Diffusing Configuration (MSDC) for indoor wireless optical LANs. MSDC utilizes a multibeam transmitter and a composite receiver consisting of 7 narrow field-of-view (FOV) branches. Numerical evaluation is performed for two values of the receiver FOV corresponding to the cases when at least one or two diffusing spots are covered by a branch. Required optical power is used as a measure for MSDC link evaluation. The composite receiver provides angle diversity, which allows implementation of effective combining techniques. Selection Combining (SC) and Maximal Ratio Containing (MRC) methods have been analyzed. Our simulation results show that MSDC can reach much higher bit rates than a diffuse link can, without any channel equalization. MSDC link employing angle diversity receiver with larger FOV (each receiver branch capturing at least two diffusing spots) and using MRC method shows a promising performance for up to several hundreds of Mbps. System robustness against shadowing and blockage is also investigated. MSDC is more robust when an obstacle is located near the receiver, while this may cause severe problems in a diffuse link.