Ultraviolet Communication: Increasing the Distance-Rate Product

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"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."The objective of the research is to improve the distance-throughput product of ultraviolet communication systems by several orders of magnitude so that they may be used as inexpensive short-distance non-directed links, such as for voice and data. The approach taken combines a mix of communication-theoretic methods (modulation, coding, multi-beam transmission) and improved UV technologies (fine-tuned optics, powerful electro-optic devices) to obtain this gain. The research culminates in the development of an experimental testbed demonstrating and validating the concepts.The novel contribution of this work is the blending of advanced communication techniques with clever optics to improve the link quality and make it suitable for a variety of applications. Previous research efforts have been one-dimensional, focusing on the devices, the physics, or the modulation, and exclusively for military applications. Commercial applications require significantly higher capacity and reliability, and multiple simultaneous users. This research provides a systematic plan for accomplishing this goal, starting with a mathematical description of the channel and ending with a prototype system.A substantial improvement of the throughput and reliability of ultraviolet communication systems can lead to increased economic and scientific interest in this relatively immature technology. One can envision an explosion of applications currently unserved by inexpensive technology, such as the last-mile broadband connectivity in urban areas, densely-packed wireless sensor networks, and military applications. The research also provides a practical and stimulating medium for the education of graduate and undergraduate students. Undergraduate students of diverse backgrounds are used to design, develop and manage the experimental testbed.