Optical Wireless Communications international standards — A review

The Optical Wireless Communications (OWC) international standardisation activities are strongly emphasized in the Memorandum of Understanding of the COST Action CA19111 European Network on Future Generation Optical Wireless Communication Technologies (NEWFOCUS). Also the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Telecommunication Union — Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) are progressing in developing and maintaining Optical Wireless Communications standards. Optical Wireless is a well established Communication Technology. In this talk Optical Wireless Communications (OWC) or Free Space Optics (FSO) is considered within the focus of regulations and standardisation-bodies for future applications. The OWC and FSO Technology is compared to other Communication Technologies and ITU, IEC, and IEEE International standards for Free-Space Optical links will be reviewed. In this talk the recent progress in various standardisation organisations worldwide including an ongoing work will be shown, and future directions will be outlined. The co-existence and compatibility of neighbouring systems, propagation atmospheric conditions, visible light communications, and laser safety issues will be considered too.