Challenge: mobile optical networks through visual MIMO

Mobile optical communications has so far largely been limited to short ranges of about ten meters, since the highly directional nature of optical transmissions would require costly mechanical steering mechanisms. Advances in CCD and CMOS imaging technology along with the advent of visible and infrared (IR) light sources such as (light emitting diode) LED arrays presents an exciting and challenging concept which we call as visualMIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) where optical transmissions by multiple transmitter elements are received by an array of photodiode elements (e.g. pixels in a camera). Visual-MIMO opens a new vista of research challenges in PHY, MAC and Network layer research and this paper brings together the networking, communications and computer vision fields to discuss the feasibility of this as well as the underlying opportunities and challenges. Example applications range from household/factory robotic to tactical to vehicular networks as well pervasive computing, ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2010
• Where: MOBICOM
• Authors: Ashwin Ashok, Marco Gruteser, Narayan Mandayam, Jayant Silva, Michael Varga, Kristin J. Dana
• Keywords: Communications, MOBICOM 2010, Mobile Optical Communications, Multiple Transmitters, Optical Transmissions