Optical wireless systems with MIMO architecture in an industrial environment (OWIND)

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Ronald Freund
• Subject Area: Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 418775794

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The main goal of the OWIND project was to research optical wireless communication (OWC) links, which support the needs of future industrial manufacturing, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and flexible production adjustments for individual products. Major requirements for these use cases are high data rates, low latency, and reliable connectivity. To fulfil these requirements, a multilink optical wireless system was envisioned. The goal of OWIND was to develop concepts for a networked, distributed optical wireless system, create system models, and test the concepts in practical demonstrations. The OWIND project was set up as a cooperation between TU Berlin and Universidade Federal de Espírito Santo in Vitória, Brazil. While the demonstration of a full networked system could not be realized in the project due to the hindered cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic, extensive work on basic issues of the OWC links was carried out. A model was created for the networked OWC system, and both simultaneous channel estimation and soft handovers were demonstrated as first steps. Research work focussed on the optimisation of an OFDM-based modulation format for application in distributed OWC systems. A full physical layer was developed and evaluated, which was also standardized in the IEEE Std 802.15.13-2023. The goal in these developments was to increase energy efficiency and link reach of OWC networks to facilitate the implementation of distributed systems with practical cell sizes. Furthermore, a high bandwidth laser-based transmitter was experimentally tested, to enable high data rates in the range over 1 Gbit/s per link with high energy efficiency.

Publications

• “Simulation results with bit-loading for the LC-optimized PHY,” IEEE 802.11bb task group, doc. 11-19/1566r3, Sep. 2019
  M. Hinrichs, K. L. Bober, V. Jungnickel & R. Fischer
  
• Demonstration of Optical Wireless Communications Using the Pulsed Modulation PHY in IEEE 802.15.13. 2020 22nd International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON). IEEE.
  Hinrichs, Malte; Schmidt, Christian; Poddig, Benjamin; Hilt, Jonas; Hellwig, Peter; Schulz, Dominic; Bober, Kai Lennert; Schostak, Jonathan; Freund, Ronald & Jungnickel, Volker
  
• Efficient Line Coding for Low-Power Optical Wireless Communications. 2021 IEEE 94th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC2021-Fall), 1-7. IEEE.
  Hinrichs, Malte; Poddig, Benjamin; Nolle, Markus; Hellwig, Peter; Freund, Ronald & Jungnickel, Volker
  
• Increasing the LED Bias Point of an OFDM-based VLC System through Multi-objective Optimization. 2021 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International Microwave and Optoelectronics Conference (IMOC), 1-3. IEEE.
  Costa, Wesley; Camporez, Higor; Pontes, Maria; Segatto, Marcelo; Rocha, Helder; Silva, Jair; Hinrichs, Malte; Paraskevopoulos, Anagnostis; Jungnickel, Volker & Freund, Ronald
  
• Performance Evaluation of a Soft Handover Framework Applied to VLC Systems. 2021 SBMO/IEEE MTT-S International Microwave and Optoelectronics Conference (IMOC). IEEE.
  Camporez, Higor A. F.; Costa, Wesley S.; Silva, Jair A. L.; Rocha, Helder R. O. & Segatto, Marcelo E. V.
  
• Simultaneous Channel Estimation for Pulsed-Modulation Optical Wireless Communications. ICC 2022 - IEEE International Conference on Communications, 565-570. IEEE.
  Schostak, Jonathan; Hinrichs, Malte; Bober, Kai Lennert; Freund, Ronald & Jungnickel, Volker
  
• 4 Gbit/s optical wireless communication with high-power transmitter. IET Conference Proceedings, 2023(34), 1290-1293.
  Hinrichs, M.; Silveira, M.; Boniello, G.; Schulz, D.; Schubert, M.; Böhnke, R.; Xu, W.; Freund, R. & Jungnickel, V.
  
• A Performance Comparison of OFDM and Pulsed PHY Modulations in Optical Wireless Communications. 2023 South American Conference On Visible Light Communications (SACVLC), 124-129. IEEE.
  Hinrichs, Malte; Costa, Wesley; Rocha, Helder; Pontes, Maria; Segatto, Marcelo; Paraskevopoulos, Anagnostis; Jungnickel, Volker; Freund, Ronald & Silva, Jair
  
• IEEE Standard for Multi-Gigabit per Second Optical Wireless Communications (OWC), with Ranges up to 200 m, for Both Stationary and Mobile Devices. IEEE.
  
  
• Increasing the power and spectral efficiencies of an OFDM-based VLC system through multi-objective optimization. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 40(6), 1268.
  Costa, Wesley; Camporez, Higor; Pontes, Maria; Segatto, Marcelo; Rocha, Helder; Silva, Jair; Hinrichs, Malte; Paraskevopoulos, Anagnostis; Jungnickel, Volker & Freund, Ronald
  
• Increasing the reach of visible light communication links through constant-envelope OFDM signals. Optics Communications, 530, 129179.
  Camporez, Higor; Costa, Wesley; Pontes, Maria; Segatto, Marcelo; Rocha, Helder; Silva, Jair; Hinrichs, Malte; Paraskevopoulos, Anagnostis; Jungnickel, Volker & Freund, Ronald
  
• Toward AI-Enhanced VLC Systems for Industrial Applications. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 41(4), 1064-1076.
  Costa, Wesley; Camporez, Higor; Hinrichs, Malte; Rocha, Helder; Pontes, Maria; Segatto, Marcelo; Paraskevopoulos, Anagnostis; Jungnickel, Volker; Freund, Ronald & Silva, Jair
  
• “Transmission of Pilot Seqeunces” United States Patent Application 20240205053, Jun. 2024 (granted)
  J. Andree, M. Hinrichs, K. L. Bober & V. Jungnickel