Emerging Urban Applications of Broadband Optical Wireless Networking

Optical wireless technology offers a unique solution to a variety of communications needs. It provides a balanced option between the convenience of traditional radio frequency and the communication capacity of wired media. This offers novel solutions to existing and new communication challenges. Such uniqueness comes at a price, however, as the deployment of optical wireless is not straightforward. New challenges are introduced. Fortunately, much research has been done to overcome these challenges and to create new ways of applying this unique technology. Of the different possible areas in which optical wireless communication can be applied, urban networks effectively embrace its unmatched qualities. In this paper, we survey the use of optical wireless in urban applications.