Beamsteering for optical wireless: opportunities and challenges

dominic O'brien

The demand for indoor wireless access to the internet continues to grow exponentially, creating high demands on the wireless spectrum, and the need for densely packed infrastructure to be able to meet this capacity. RF wireless systems are moving to higher frequencies, with the use of beamsteered RF links introduced as part of the 5G familly of standards as one example.

Optical links that use beamsteering can augment the available RF capacity, and the highest wireless data rates demonstrated use such optical wireless techniques. In this presentation the technical challenges and potential of beamsteered links will be explored. Results that show Tb/s communications, as well as systems for quantum key exchange will be detailed, as well as potential future directions.

Interview

What drives you?
I’m interested in how light can help with the wireless communications we all use

Why should the delegate attend your presentation?
To understand how wireless might evolve

Professor Dominic O’Brien is a Professor of Engineering Science at Oxford and leads the optical communications group. He is the Director of the UK National Hub in Quantum Computing and Simulation. His research is in optical wireless communications, with a particular focus on system demonstration, with a number of world-firsts in this area. Recent demonstrations, together with industrial and academic partners, include Quantum Key Distribution free-space links between handheld devices, between UAVs and ground stations, and Terabit/s wireless links within buildings.

Professor Dominic O’Brien is an Invited Speaker at the 2021 edition of the Online Optical Wireless Communications Conference.

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