Demonstration of micro-projection enabled short-range communication system for 5G.

Area of Science:

• Optoelectronics
• Optical Communications
• Information Technology

Background:

• Short-range communication (SRC) is crucial for 5G personal communication devices (PCDs).
• Existing SRC methods face limitations in data transmission rates and simultaneous projection capabilities.
• Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) technology offers potential for integrated optical solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel LCoS-based polarization modulated image (PMI) system architecture.
• To evaluate the system's capability for simultaneous micro-projection and high-speed data transmission.
• To investigate the highest achievable data transmission rates using various baseband modulation schemes.

Main Methods:

• Development of an LCoS-based PMI system utilizing red, green, and blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
• Implementation and testing of multilevel pulse amplitude modulation (M-PAM), M-ary phase shift keying modulation (M-PSK), and M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM).
• Experimental demonstration of simultaneous micro-projection and data transmission.

Main Results:

• The proposed LCoS-PMI system achieved simultaneous micro-projection and data transmission.
• An aggregative data transmission rate of 892 Mb/s and 900 Mb/s at a bit error rate (BER) of 10^(-3) was demonstrated using 16-QAM.
• The system proved transparent to various modulation formats, including those used in advanced multicarrier schemes.

Conclusions:

• The LCoS-based PMI system is a viable alternative SRC approach for 5G PCD applications.
• High-speed data transmission (nearly 1 Gb/s) is achievable with simultaneous micro-projection.
• The system's flexibility with modulation schemes supports future communication advancements.