CNS Core: Medium: Communication and Networking with Diffused Laser Light

技术进步推动了移动的带宽需求的前所未有的加速，例如4K视频流、虚拟/增强现实和自动驾驶汽车。它加剧了快速减少的射频（RF）频谱的压力。可见光通信（VLC）作为一种有前途的无线技术出现，以减轻对RF频谱的压力。它将无处不在的人造光源转变为无线接入点，有望提供无与伦比的通信带宽。然而，现有的VLC研究从根本上受到发光二极管（LED）的限制。它们的响应时间慢和频谱效率低，导致数据速率适中或传输距离只有厘米级。该项目旨在克服这一限制。它研究了使用漫射激光作为下一代传输介质，同时定性地将实际VLC性能提升到一个新的水平。该项目设想未来的室内（例如，办公室、家庭）和室外（例如，汽车前灯、路灯）照明将逐渐利用激光二极管，因为它们具有上级照明效率。多个并置的激光二极管发射不同波长的光，这些光被混合和漫射以产生漫射白色光。由于激光二极管具有高调制带宽和频谱效率的独特特性，相同的漫射白色光被重新用于超高速传输数据。漫射激光不仅使得激光对于照明是安全的，而且还减轻了传统自由空间激光通信所面临的对准问题。拟议的研究解决了网络，系统和光学问题，共同利用漫射激光进行正常照明和高速，可靠的通信，这与先前研究激光通信和照明的工作有很大的不同。它解决了关键的研究问题，包括如何建立有效和强大的通信链路与漫射激光，如何协调激光的照明和通信功能，以及如何利用链路与漫射激光扩大覆盖范围和支持用户的移动性。如果这项工作获得成功，将代表VLC的一个重大范式转变，并建立关键的系统部件，以克服系统、网络和光学方面的关键障碍，将千兆数据速率范围内的VLC链路引入实际系统。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Technological advances have driven an unprecedented acceleration of mobile bandwidth demand, with examples including 4K video streaming, virtual/augmented reality, and autonomous vehicles. It exacerbates the pressure on the rapidly-dwindling radio frequency (RF) spectrum. Visible light communication (VLC) emerges as a promising wireless technology to mitigate the pressure on the RF spectrum. It turns ubiquitous sources of artificial light into wireless access points, promising unparalleled communication bandwidth. Existing VLC research, however, is fundamentally shackled by the limits of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Their slow response time and low spectral efficiency have resulted in either moderate data rates or centimeter-level transmission distances. The project aims to overcome this limit. It studies the use of diffused laser light as the next-generation transmission medium while qualitatively boosting practical VLC performance to the next level. The project envisions that future indoor (e.g., offices, homes) and outdoor (e.g., car headlights, street lamps) illumination will gradually take advantage of laser diodes because of their superior illumination efficiency. Multiple collocated laser diodes emit light at different wavelengths that are mixed and diffused to generate diffuse white light. The same diffused white light is reused to transmit data at ultra-high speeds, thanks to laser diode's unique properties of high modulation bandwidth and spectrum efficiency. Diffusing laser light not only makes laser light safe for illumination but also mitigates the alignment issues faced by conventional free-space laser communication. Proposed research tackles networking, systems, and optics issues in jointly utilizing diffused laser light for both normal illumination and high-speed, reliable communication, which sets a key departure from prior works that study laser light communication and illumination in isolation. It addresses key research questions including how to build efficient and robust communication link with diffused laser light, how to reconcile the illumination and communication functionality of laser light, and how to leverage links with diffuse laser light for expanded coverage and support of user mobility. The proposed work, if successful, will represent a major paradigm shift in VLC and establish crucial systems pieces to overcome key barriers in systems, networking, and optics to bring VLC links in gigabit data rate range to practical systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.