Reconfigurable Indoor Optical Wireless Communication (OWC) System Employing Space- and Mode-Division Multiplexing Using Integrated Silicon Photonic Demultiplexer Receiver

To efficiently support multiple users, reconfigurability has become a key requirement for indoor optical wireless communication (OWC) systems. We demonstrate a proof-of-concept reconfigurable indoor OWC system that simultaneously employing space-division multiplexing (SDM) and mode-division multiplexing (MDM). The proposed architecture employs a spatial-light-modulator (SLM) as a dynamic holographic router, enabling simultaneous optical mode conversion, optical beam splitting and steering to individual users. At the user side, a specially designed silicon-photonic (SiPh)-based multimode-waveguide-grating-coupler (MWGC) receiver (Rx) serves as a mode demultiplexer and converter for different users. Proof-of-concept experimental results demonstrate a maximum unicast capacity of 78-Gbit/s and a minimum guaranteed transmission rate of > 25-Gbit/s per channel in 1-to-3 multicast transmissions.