Improving Transmission Efficiency in Optical Wireless Networks with IR Radiative Element Clusters and Phased Array Apertures

We suggest a novel approach for enhancing signal radiation patterns in optical wireless networks. This method utilizes a planar optical aperture incorporated with infrared radiative element clusters to optimize signal radiation patterns through selective cluster excitation. In particular, we achieve near-field beam focusing for the proposed aperture by applying a phased array within a phased array concept. The method employs a dual carrier wavelength approach, leveraging an effectively large carrier wavelength for the system to avoid grating lobes occurrence due to distributed clusters. We devise an ant colony optimization-based algorithm to determine the effective excitation pattern of the clusters, ensuring optimized signal reception at the specific receiver location. Using simulations, we demonstrate the behavior of parameters like side lobe level, focal spot area, and power efficiency within the focal spot area to determine the efficient radiation pattern. The proposed optical cluster aperture enhances the reliability of line-of-sight communication by enabling each active cluster to establish a direct propagation path with the receiver.