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This research investigates the challenges in optical wireless communication due to blockage and orientation issues and evaluates the use of reflecting intelligent surfaces.

February 19, 2026Open Access

Resilient Optical Wireless Communication Through WDM-Based RIS-Assisted Multi-Connectivity

Key Points

This research investigates the challenges in optical wireless communication due to blockage and orientation issues and evaluates the use of reflecting intelligent surfaces.
Studied LOS impairments in WDM-based resource allocation for OWC with and without RIS.
Utilized the Orientation-based Random Way-Point model to simulate mobility and device orientation.
Calculated blockage geometrically by considering human objects in the context of OWC links.
Proposed multi-connectivity with physical path disjointness using multiple angle diversity receiver designs.
Evaluated system performance with a Mixed Integer Linear Program and a low-complexity algorithm.
Demonstrated that RIS significantly enhances resilience in the presence of LOS impairments.
Showed improved resource allocation efficiency in OWC when using WDM with multi-connectivity techniques.
Found that angle diversity receivers contribute positively to system performance under varying conditions.

Abstract

The susceptibility of a Line-of-Sight (LOS) link in Optical Wireless Communication (OWC) to blockage is a major challenge affecting its deployment for next generation networks. Another challenge is the random orientation of the receiving device which also affects the amount of received optical power when the incidence angle is high. Reflecting Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) is a promising technology for using non-LOS (NLOS) communication. This work aims to study the effect of these LOS link impairments on Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)-based resource allocation in OWC with and without the use of RIS elements and the effect on resilience. In this work, we adopt the state-of-the-art Orientation-based Random Way-Point (ORWP) model for mobility and random orientation of the User Equipment (UE) and calculate blockage geometrically assuming human objects since OWC links are not independent in contrast to RF-based communication. We propose multi-connectivity with physical path disjointness using multiple Angle Diversity Receiver (ADR) designs to evaluate the system performance using both a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) and a low-complexity algorithm.

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