Title: Why Optical Wireless Communication is Ready for 6G!

Abstract: We expect 6G to deliver step-change improvements in energy efficiency, data density, security, aggregate data rates in the region of Tbps and sensing information integration in order to unlock radically new applications in the metaverse. Naturally, this raises the question about ‘spectrum’. Decades of research in optical wireless communications alongside new optical devices such as single photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) and high-bandwidth solar cells have paved the way for the readiness of this technology for 6G to build more powerful, secure and energy-efficient mobile networks. The optical spectrum already powers our long-haul optical fibre networks. All this has led to a rich set of highly optimised photonic devices that form the basis for new OWC technologies that allow mobile, multiuser Tbps optical wireless networks with data densities in the region of Gbps/m2. Moreover, we show examples of how the specific physical layer security properties of this technology has already led to the commercial adoption of OWC access networks supported by a new IEEE standard, 801.11 bb. Finally, we will discuss existing challenges and the road ahead.

Bio:

Professor Harald Haas received his PhD degree from The University of Edinburgh in 2001. He is a Distinguished Professor of Mobile Communications at the University of Strathclyde/Glasgow, Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh and the Director of the LiFi Research and Development Centre (LRDC). Prof Haas founded pureLiFi Ltd., where holds the position of Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). His most recent research interests are in combining physics and communication theory towards designing secure, high-speed and net-zero wireless multi-user access networks including distributed x-haul networks using the optical. He has co-authored more than 650 conference and journal papers and holds more than 45 patents. He has been listed as highly cited researcher by Clarivate/Web of Science since 2017. Prof. Haas has delivered two TED talks which have been watched online more than 5.5 million times. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award from the International Solid State Lighting Alliance. In 2017 he was awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. In 2019 he received the IEEE Vehicular Society James Evans Avant Garde Award. In 2021, he received the Enginuity The Connect Places Innovation Award. In 2022 he was the recipient of a Humboldt Research Award for his research achievements to date. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).