Final Report Summary - BROWSE (Beam-steered Reconfigurable Optical-Wireless System for Energy-efficient communication)
The demand for wireless connectivity is rising explosively, fuelled by the exponentially growing number of wireless devices (smartphones, laptops, tablet computers, ...) asking services with ever higher data speeds, and by the emerging myriads of lower data rate devices which in the near future constitute the Internet of Things. Radio wireless networks are getting congested, new radio spectrum bands are being opened but most likely will not be able to cope with this hugely growing capacity demand. In the optical domain a wealth of yet unexplored frequency spectrum is available, freely without licensing issues. Visible light communication techniques are being developed, which make use of (existing) LED illumination systems; the achievable bandwidth is limited, however, and on top of that the wide illumination footprint implies that the devices need to share it. In BROWSE we developed a ground-breaking alternative: wireless communication by means of steerable narrow infrared beams. Eye safety standards permit relatively high beam powers for infrared (up to 10mW), and the small footprint of a beam implies that its capacity is fully available for a single device, without sharing. High energy efficiency and a high privacy level are achieved, as the beams are delivered only there when and where needed.
We created novel 2D beam steering techniques based on passive diffractive modules where the wavelength of each input optical signal determines the direction of its optical beam. Two approaches were elaborated: using a pair of cross-aligned gratings, and using a fibre-optic wavelength demultiplexer with a 2D-arranged array of output ports positioned in front of a lens. Scaling to many beams is readily done by just providing many wavelengths via the feeder fibre. We developed a hybrid indoor network concept, featuring narrow infrared beam communication downstream, 60GHz radio beam communication upstream, and a reconfigurable fibre backbone network transporting the data streams between the rooms and a central communication controller site. Novel 60GHz phased array antenna techniques were developed for efficient radio beam steering upstream, and for the device localisation needed for the downstream optical beam steering. Novel flexible routing techniques for the fibre backbone were developed, which carry the upstream radio signals by radio-over-fibre techniques and can provide fall-back solutions for downstream in case of line-of-sight blocking. Localisation strategies were developed by which the central communication controller manages the beam steering while the usage of the system’s resources and the user’s quality-of-experience is optimized.
The feasibility of the BROWSE concept has been shown in various hybrid laboratory setups. Downstream capacity up to 112Gbit/s per infrared beam over 2.5 metres reach has been demonstrated, with scalability beyond 100 beams, and upstream capacity up to 40Gbit/s with 60GHz radio beams. Also an all-optical bi-directional infrared beam-steered setup was realised, carrying 10Gbit/s both down- and up-stream over 3 metres. In a final comprehensive hybrid laboratory system setup wireless delivery was demonstrated of real-life broadband services, i.c. delivery of multiple high-definition video streams at 10Gbit/s, together with upstream 60GHz link for the return data channel and for localisation deploying a steerable antenna.
BROWSE disseminated its scientific results in many journal and conference papers, including invited, keynote and tutorial papers, PhD theses, and an IEEE webinar. It also attracted much attention in the public media, with amongst others appearance in BBC Breakfast Radio news, video interviews with Reuters, VTM and various Dutch media channels, and numerous website newslines. Industrial interests are materialising, Dutch Radio Communications Agency is bringing BROWSE’s approach into ITU standardisation activities, and a follow-up in an ERC Proof-of-Concept project has been granted.
In conclusion, BROWSE has realised its ground-breaking ambitions to unleash the giant capacity of optical communication to the wireless arena, and disclose it in a well-structured, energy-efficient and effectively tailored way to the users.
We created novel 2D beam steering techniques based on passive diffractive modules where the wavelength of each input optical signal determines the direction of its optical beam. Two approaches were elaborated: using a pair of cross-aligned gratings, and using a fibre-optic wavelength demultiplexer with a 2D-arranged array of output ports positioned in front of a lens. Scaling to many beams is readily done by just providing many wavelengths via the feeder fibre. We developed a hybrid indoor network concept, featuring narrow infrared beam communication downstream, 60GHz radio beam communication upstream, and a reconfigurable fibre backbone network transporting the data streams between the rooms and a central communication controller site. Novel 60GHz phased array antenna techniques were developed for efficient radio beam steering upstream, and for the device localisation needed for the downstream optical beam steering. Novel flexible routing techniques for the fibre backbone were developed, which carry the upstream radio signals by radio-over-fibre techniques and can provide fall-back solutions for downstream in case of line-of-sight blocking. Localisation strategies were developed by which the central communication controller manages the beam steering while the usage of the system’s resources and the user’s quality-of-experience is optimized.
The feasibility of the BROWSE concept has been shown in various hybrid laboratory setups. Downstream capacity up to 112Gbit/s per infrared beam over 2.5 metres reach has been demonstrated, with scalability beyond 100 beams, and upstream capacity up to 40Gbit/s with 60GHz radio beams. Also an all-optical bi-directional infrared beam-steered setup was realised, carrying 10Gbit/s both down- and up-stream over 3 metres. In a final comprehensive hybrid laboratory system setup wireless delivery was demonstrated of real-life broadband services, i.c. delivery of multiple high-definition video streams at 10Gbit/s, together with upstream 60GHz link for the return data channel and for localisation deploying a steerable antenna.
BROWSE disseminated its scientific results in many journal and conference papers, including invited, keynote and tutorial papers, PhD theses, and an IEEE webinar. It also attracted much attention in the public media, with amongst others appearance in BBC Breakfast Radio news, video interviews with Reuters, VTM and various Dutch media channels, and numerous website newslines. Industrial interests are materialising, Dutch Radio Communications Agency is bringing BROWSE’s approach into ITU standardisation activities, and a follow-up in an ERC Proof-of-Concept project has been granted.
In conclusion, BROWSE has realised its ground-breaking ambitions to unleash the giant capacity of optical communication to the wireless arena, and disclose it in a well-structured, energy-efficient and effectively tailored way to the users.