Computer based simulation of optical wireless communications for the development of optimized error protection and correction schemes

Commercial application of optical wireless communications is currently limited to the area of short range near ground connections, like networks between buildings over a few kilometers. For other areas of application, like data downlinks from flying platforms, demonstrations have been done, but commercial systems for long range communications over many kilometers are not yet available for general usage. The biggest challenge for reliable optical communications is to mitigate the fading of the received optical signal. A possible solution is to implement error protection and correction mechanisms for securing transmitted data. In this dissertation a simplified channel model is developed which can be used for computer based simulation. This simplified channel model is then used for the evaluation of error protection and correction mechanisms applied to the optical wireless channel. Finally generally proposed communication scenarios are evaluated if optical wireless communication is possible, based on the developed channel model. The results show that the combination of forward error correction and selective repeat automatic repeat request protocols can be used to realize reliable optical communication links in all proposed scenarios, even the most challenging ones. The back channel traffic for automatic repeat request protocols leads to a significant reduction of the transmittable user data rate in worst-case scenarios and has to be taken into account for the system design. The developed simulation approach can be used to optimize protocols for the optical wireless channel in order to reduce the load on the back channel and the over all required memory.Die kommerzielle Anwendung der optischen Freiraumkommunikation ist gegenwärtig auf den Bereich der bodennahen Kurzstreckenverbindungen mit wenigen Kilometern Länge begrenzt, beispielsweise Netzwerkverbindung zwischen Gebäuden. In anderen Anwendungsbereichen, z.B. Datendownlinks von fliegenden Plattformen, wurden zwar Technologiedemonstrationen durchgeführt, jedoch sind für solche Langstreckenverbindungen keine alltagstauglichen kommerziellen Systeme verfügbar. Die größte Herausforderung für zuverlässige optische Kommunikation ist die Kompensation der Signalschwankungen des empfangenen optischen Signals. Eine mögliche Lösung für dieses Problem ist die Implementierung von Fehlersicherungs- und Fehlerkorrekturmechanismen, um die Datenübertragung abzusichern. In dieser Dissertation wird ein vereinfachtes Kanalmodell entwickelt, welches für die Simulationen mittels Computern geeignet ist. Dieses vereinfachte Modell wird anschließend für die Bewertung von Fehlersicherungs- und Fehlerkorrekturmechanismen für den optischen Kanal verwendet. Abschliessend wird basierend auf dem entwickelten Kanalmodell der mögliche Einsatz von optischer Freiraumkommunikation in häufig vorgeschlagenen Szenarien untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Kombination von Vorwärtsfehlerkorrektur und Protokollen mit selektiver Wiederholung und automatischer Wiederholungsanfrage geeignet ist, um zuverlässige optische Kommunikationsverbindungen in allen vorgeschlagenen Szenarien zu realisieren, selbst in den anspruchsvollsten. Die Datenübertragung auf dem Rückkanal von Protokollen mit automatischer Wiederholungsanfrage führt im schlechtesten Fall zu einer signifikanten Reduzierung der übertragbaren Nutzdatenrate und muss bei der Systemauslegung berücksichtigt werden. Mit dem entwickelten Simulationsansatz können Protokolle für den optischen Funkkanal optimiert werden, um die Belastung des Rückkanals zu reduzieren und um den allgemeinen Speicherbedarf zu reduzieren

Experimental Characterisation and Modelling of Atmospheric Fog and Turbulence in FSO

Free space optical (FSO) communication uses visible or infrared (IR) wavelengths to broadcast high-speed data wirelessly through the atmospheric channel. The performance of FSO communications is mainly dependent on the unpredictable atmospheric channel such as fog, smoke and temperature dependent turbulence. However, as the real outdoor atmosphere (ROA) is time varying and heterogeneous in nature as well as depending on the magnitude and intensity of different weather conditions, carrying out a proper link assessment under specific weather conditions becomes a challenging task. Investigation and modelling the ROA under diverse atmospheric conditions is still a great challenge in FSO communications. Hence a dedicated indoor atmospheric chamber is designed and built to produce controlled atmosphere as necessary to mimic the ROA as closely as possible. The experimental results indicate that the fog attenuation is wavelength dependent for all visibility V ranges, which contradicts the Kim model for V < 0.5 km. The obtained result validates that Kim model needs to be revised for V < 0.5 km in order to correctly predict the wavelength dependent fog attenuation. Also, there are no experimental data and empirical model available for FSO links in diverse smoke conditions, which are common in urban areas. Therefore, a new empirical model is proposed to evaluate the wavelength dependent fog and smoke attenuation by reconsidering the q value as a function of wavelength rather than visibility. The BER performance of an FSO system is theoretically and experimentally evaluated for OOK- NRZ, OOK-RZ and 4-PPM formats for Ethernet line data-rates from light to dense fog conditions. A BER of 10-6 (Q-factor ≈ 4.7) is achieved at dense fog (transmittance, T = 0.33) condition using 4-PPM than OOK-NRZ and OOK-RZ modulation schemes due to its high peak-to-average power ratio albeit at the expense of doubling the bandwidth. The effects of fog on OOK-NRZ, 4-PAM and BPSK are also experimentally investigated. In comparison to 4-PAM and OOK-NRZ signals, the BPSK modulation signalling format is more robust against the effects of fog. Moreover, the effects of using different average transmitted optical communication powers Popton the T and the received Q-factor using the OOK-NRZ modulation scheme are also investigated for light and dense fog conditions. The results show that for an FSO system operating at a Q-factor of 4.7 (for BER = 10-6), the required Q-factor is achieved at T of 48% under the thick fog condition by increasing Popt to 1.07 dBm, whereas the values of T are 55% and ~70% for the transmit power of 0.56 dBm and -0.7 dBm, respectively. The experimental characterisation and investigation of the atmospheric turbulence effect on the Ethernet and Fast-Ethernet FSO link is reported using different modulation schemes. The experiment is carried out in a controlled laboratory environment where turbulence is generated in a dedicated indoor atmospheric chamber. The atmospheric chamber is calibrated to mimic an outdoor turbulence conditions and the measured data are verified against the theoretical predictions. The experiment also demonstrates methods to control the turbulence levels and determine the equivalence between the indoor and outdoor FSO links. The results show that the connectivity of Ethernet and Fast-Ethernet links are highly sensitive to atmospheric turbulence. The results also show that the BPSK and OOK-NRZ modulation signalling formats are more robust against the weak atmospheric turbulence conditions than PAM signal

An Introduction to Free-space Optical Communications

Over the last two decades free-space optical communication (FSO) has become more and more interesting as an adjunct or alternative to radio frequency communication. This article gives an overview of the challenges a system designer has to consider while implementing an FSO system. Typical gains and losses along the path from the transmitter through the medium to the receiver are introduced in this article. Detailed discussions of these topics can be found in this special issue of the Radioengineering Journal

Otimização do fronthaul ótico para redes de acesso de rádio (baseadas) em computação em nuvem (CC-RANs)

Doutoramento conjunto (MAP-Tele) em Engenharia Eletrotécnica/TelecomunicaçõesA proliferação de diversos tipos de dispositivos moveis, aplicações e serviços com grande necessidade de largura de banda têm contribuído para o aumento de ligações de banda larga e ao aumento do volume de trafego das redes de telecomunicações moveis. Este aumento exponencial tem posto uma enorme pressão nos mobile operadores de redes móveis (MNOs). Um dos aspetos principais deste recente desenvolvimento, é a necessidade que as redes têm de oferecer baixa complexidade nas ligações, como também baixo consumo energético, muito baixa latência e ao mesmo tempo uma grande capacidade por baixo usto. De maneira a resolver estas questões, os MNOs têm focado a sua atenção na redes de acesso por rádio em nuvem (C-RAN) principalmente devido aos seus benefícios em termos de otimização de performance e relação qualidade preço. O standard para a distribuição de sinais sem fios por um fronthaul C-RAN é o common public radio interface (CPRI). No entanto, ligações óticas baseadas em interfaces CPRI necessitam de uma grande largura de banda. Estes requerimentos podem também ser atingidos com uma implementação em ligação free space optical (FSO) que é um sistema ótico que usa comunicação sem fios. O FSO tem sido uma alternativa muito apelativa aos sistemas de comunicação rádio (RF) pois combinam a flexibilidade e mobilidade das redes RF ao mesmo tempo que permitem a elevada largura de banda permitida pelo sistema ótico. No entanto, as ligações FSO são suscetíveis a alterações atmosféricas que podem prejudicar o desempenho do sistema de comunicação. Estas limitações têm evitado o FSO de ser tornar uma excelente solução para o fronthaul. Uma caracterização precisa do canal e tecnologias mais avançadas são então necessárias para uma implementação pratica de ligações FSO. Nesta tese, vamos estudar uma implementação eficiente para fronthaul baseada em tecnologia á rádio-sobre-FSO (RoFSO). Propomos expressões em forma fechada para mitigação das perdas de propagação e para a estimação da capacidade do canal de maneira a aliviar a complexidade do sistema de comunicação. Simulações numéricas são também apresentadas para formatos de modulação adaptativas. São também considerados esquemas como um sistema hibrido RF/FSO e tecnologias de transmissão apoiadas por retransmissores que ajudam a alivar os requerimentos impostos por um backhaul/fronthaul de C-RAN. Os modelos propostos não só reduzem o esforço computacional, como também têm outros méritos, tais como, uma elevada precisão na estimação do canal e desempenho, baixo requisitos na capacidade de memória e uma rápida e estável operação comparativamente com o estado da arte em sistemas analíticos (PON)-FSO. Este sistema é implementado num recetor em tempo real que é emulado através de uma field-programmable gate array (FPGA) comercial. Permitindo assim um sistema aberto, interoperabilidade, portabilidade e também obedecer a standards de software aberto. Os esquemas híbridos têm a habilidade de suportar diferentes aplicações, serviços e múltiplos operadores a partilharem a mesma infraestrutura de fibra ótica.The proliferation of different mobile devices, bandwidth-intensive applications and services contribute to the increase in the broadband connections and the volume of traffic on the mobile networks. This exponential growth has put considerable pressure on the mobile network operators (MNOs). In principal, there is a need for networks that not only offer low-complexity, low-energy consumption, and extremely low-latency but also high-capacity at relatively low cost. In order to address the demand, MNOs have given significant attention to the cloud radio access network (C-RAN) due to its beneficial features in terms of performance optimization and cost-effectiveness. The de facto standard for distributing wireless signal over the C-RAN fronthaul is the common public radio interface (CPRI). However, optical links based on CPRI interfaces requires large bandwidth. Also, the aforementioned requirements can be realized with the implementation of free space optical (FSO) link, which is an optical wireless system. The FSO is an appealing alternative to the radio frequency (RF) communication system that combines the flexibility and mobility offered by the RF networks with the high-data rates provided by the optical systems. However, the FSO links are susceptible to atmospheric impairments which eventually hinder the system performance. Consequently, these limitations prevent FSO from being an efficient standalone fronthaul solution. So, precise channel characterizations and advanced technologies are required for practical FSO link deployment and operation. In this thesis, we study an efficient fronthaul implementation that is based on radio-on-FSO (RoFSO) technologies. We propose closedform expressions for fading-mitigation and for the estimation of channel capacity so as to alleviate the system complexity. Numerical simulations are presented for adaptive modulation scheme using advanced modulation formats. We also consider schemes like hybrid RF/FSO and relay-assisted transmission technologies that can help in alleviating the stringent requirements by the C-RAN backhaul/fronthaul. The propose models not only reduce the computational requirements/efforts, but also have a number of diverse merits such as high-accuracy, low-memory requirements, fast and stable operation compared to the current state-of-the-art analytical based approaches. In addition to the FSO channel characterization, we present a proof-of-concept experiment in which we study the transmission capabilities of a hybrid passive optical network (PON)-FSO system. This is implemented with the real-time receiver that is emulated by a commercial field-programmable gate array (FPGA). This helps in facilitating an open system and hence enables interoperability, portability, and open software standards. The hybrid schemes have the ability to support different applications, services, and multiple operators over a shared optical fiber infrastructure

TechNews digests: Jan - Mar 2010

TechNews is a technology, news and analysis service aimed at anyone in the education sector keen to stay informed about technology developments, trends and issues. TechNews focuses on emerging technologies and other technology news. TechNews service : digests september 2004 till May 2010 Analysis pieces and News combined publish every 2 to 3 month

Studies of atmospheric effects on free-space THz pulse propagation and applications

Within THz frequency range, free-space propagated EM wave and the related applications have attracted a lot of attention, due to promising solutions for new types of remote sensing, wireless communications and security applications. However, the characteristics of free-space THz wave are degraded by several atmospheric conditions, such as water vapor absorption and pulse distortion.In this thesis, a comprehensive study on atmospheric effects on free-space THz signal and its potential applications by using the state-of-art Long-Path THz-TDS system is presented. Two types of absorptions from the ambient water vapor have been investigated: the resonant absorption which is associated with strong phase shifts and the continuum absorption. The molecular response theory is used as the lineshape function based on parameters from JPL and HITRAN databases for simulation to water vapor resonant absorption and phase shift. Not only were the THz digital bit observed for potential wireless communications, but the refractivity of water vapor was also obtained by line-by-line summation.A series of accurate experiments of water vapor continuum absorption have been carried out by using the 170 m Long-Path THz-TDS system. With precise experimental results and MRT simulation, the parameters for general model of water vapor continuum absorption have been successfully obtained within several THz transparent windows. As another kind of atmospheric condition, artificial fog fully filled the 137 m long sample chamber, in order to investigate absorption and phase shift of the atmospheric diffusive scattering mediums.With all the quantitative understanding of the atmospheric effects, a comprehensive atmospheric model for the free-space THz signals has been established, including the humidity, temperature and distance. This model can be used to provide a theoretical verification for all of the free-space THz applications.To demonstrate another free-space THz application, a series of experiments of THz-TDS remote detection of small molecules vapor have been performed. Samples of CH3CN, D2O and HDO have been successfully detected using 170 m Long-Path THz-TDS system. Moreover, the reaction ratio of the transition from H2O and D2O to HDO has been monitored in time