Optical wireless multi-spot diffusing; a MIMO configuration

Optical (infrared) wireless communications links offer an attractive solution for indoor applications. To enable terminal mobility and reduce temporal dispersion, we use a configuration known as Multi-Spot-Diffusing (MSD), which is a Multi-Input, Multi-Output (MIMO) architecture. In this configuration, a transmitter generates multiple narrow beams that get uniformly spread over a reflection surface accessible to a service area. A multi-branch receiver with each branch having access to a diffusing spot (generated by transmitter) combines signals on its branches. This scheme creates multiple virtually ideal communications channels between a base station and terminals. This paper considers issues involved in the design of a transmitter-based holographic spot array generator. The generator produces equally-spaced diffusing spots on the room ceiling and/or walls. To overcome power limitation set by eye safety requirements, a receiver optical concentrator is proposed. Furthermore, to improve receiver signal-to-noise ratio, an optical filter that rejects optical noise is needed. Thus, functionally receiver branch optical front-end consists of an optical concentrator and an optical band-pass filter. A single holographic optical element, capable of performing both functions is proposed. Link performance is investigated by providing equivalent link model and comparing probability of error for a bare and a holographic receiver. From performance evaluations, our results show that it is possible to achieve an increase of 11 dB in the SNR and improve power budget by reducing the path loss by over 6 dB.