High bitrate optical wireless communication for indoor & outdoor applications

Although there is a belief that systems using visible or infrared light to communicate at high bitrates through the atmosphere (or free space) are relatively new, they actually have been used for decades in the commercial and military sector. In particular, systems using visible light (VLC systems), a derivative of Optical Wireless (OW) or Free Space Optics (FSO) Communications are studied quite intensively these days as an alternative to RF based WiFi systems. This paper will provide an overview and background of some of the basics of optical wireless communications and will outline similarities and differences between classical infrared optical wireless communications and visible light communications.