Relay-Assisted Technology in Optical Wireless Communications: A Survey

Wenwen Liu; Jupeng Ding; Jiong Zheng; Xifeng Chen; Chih-Lin I

doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3031288

IEEE Access (Jan 2020)

Relay-Assisted Technology in Optical Wireless Communications: A Survey

Wenwen Liu,
Jupeng Ding,
Jiong Zheng,
Xifeng Chen,
Chih-Lin I

Affiliations

Wenwen Liu: ORCiD; Key Laboratory of Signal Detection and Processing in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, School of Information Science and Engineering, Xinjiang University, Ürümqi, China
Jupeng Ding: ORCiD; Key Laboratory of Signal Detection and Processing in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, School of Information Science and Engineering, Xinjiang University, Ürümqi, China
Jiong Zheng: Key Laboratory of Signal Detection and Processing in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, School of Information Science and Engineering, Xinjiang University, Ürümqi, China
Xifeng Chen: ORCiD; Key Laboratory of Signal Detection and Processing in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, School of Information Science and Engineering, Xinjiang University, Ürümqi, China
Chih-Lin I: Green Communication Research Center, China Mobile Research Institute, China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., Beijing, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3031288
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8
pp. 194384 – 194409

Abstract

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When the distance between the source and the target is long, the signal will be affected by atmospheric turbulence, weather conditions and obstacles, which cannot support the information transmission. One of the existing solutions is to use relay-assisted technology (RAT). It makes the communications between the source and the destination possible under better channel conditions by setting up relay between the source and the destination. There are few comprehensive articles about relay-assisted technology in OWC. To fill this gap, this paper introduces the RAT of indoor optical wireless communications (IOWC), outdoor optical wireless communications (OOWC) and underwater optical wireless communications (UOWC) in different application scenarios, which has a better effect than direct communication between source and destination. The relay protocols, channel models, modulation techniques under three relay modes are reviewed. Finally, challenges of RAT in OWC are put forward and potential solutions are also given.

Published in IEEE Access

ISSN: 2169-3536 (Online)
Publisher: IEEE
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Technology: Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering
Website: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=6287639

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