Creating and sharing knowledge for telecommunications

Project: Next-Generation Optical Wireless Communications Enabled by Artificial Intelligence

Acronym: OptWire
Main Objective:
The main aim of the project is to comprehensively model and mitigate the two main limiting factors of FSO at the physical layer – atmospheric turbulence and pointing-errors — making use of advanced AI tools to overcome the high complexity associated with these open research problems.
In order to model the impact of atmospheric turbulence on outdoor deployments, the OptWire project will rely on extensive experimental campaigns within controlled laboratory environments: i) a wind-tunnel scenario, provided by CESAM/UA and ii) a custom-design atmospheric chamber to be manufactured by PIC Advanced, SA. After the collection of very large amounts of data for a wide range of turbulence parameters, AI-based model extraction will be performed through big data analysis using machine learning algorithms. This AI-optimized channel prediction model will then be critical for the design of enhanced mitigation measures, such as adaptive modulation and coding, beam shaping and multiple-input-multiple-output transmission diversity. On the other hand, combatting the impact of pointing errors will be pursued through the use of high-precision optical and mechanical beam steering devices, whose operation will be optimized through modern AI-based approaches, such as evolutionary algorithms and artificial neural networks. In addition, the optimization of signal modulation and spectral efficiency will be performed through end-to-end learning of the FSO link, resorting to the use of auto-encoders to automatically adapt the signal properties to the varying conditions of the link.
Reference: PTDC/EEI-TEL/2697/2021
Funding: FCT
Start Date: 01-12-2021
End Date: 30-11-2024
Team: Fernando Pedro Pereira Guiomar, Paulo Miguel Nepomuceno Pereira Monteiro, Petia Georgieva, Antonio Luis Jesus Teixeira, Maria do Carmo Raposo de Medeiros, Marco André Tavares Fernandes, Manuel dos Santos Neves, Beatriz Manata de Oliveira, Gil Gonçalo Martins Fernandes, Patel RomilKumar Kantibhai, Manuel José Matias de Freitas, Nwanze Jideofor Nzekwu, Nelson de Jesus Cordeiro Muga, Bruno Tavares Brandão
Groups: Optical Communication Systems and Networking – Av, Applied Mathematics - Av, Optical Communication Systems and Networking – Co
Partners: CESAM, Universidade de Aveiro, PIC Advanced, SA
Local Coordinator: Fernando Pedro Pereira Guiomar

Associated Publications
  • 1Boock Chapters
  • F. P. Guiomar, M. Fernandes, G. Fernandes, P. Monteiro, High-Capacity Coherent FSO, Chapter in, Handbook of Radio and Optical Networks Convergence, Tetsuya Kawanishi, Springer, Singapore, Singapore, 2024 | Full text (PDF 1 MB)
  • 12Papers in Journals
  • S. T. Mantey, M. Fernandes, G. Fernandes, N. A. Silva, F. P. Guiomar, P. Monteiro, A. N. Pinto, N. J. Muga, On the Coexistence of Quantum and Classical Signal Transmission Over Turbulent FSO Channels, Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 1043 - 1050, February, 2025,
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  • Pedro A. Loureiro Loureiro, B. Brandão, S. Y. Yahyaoui, F. P. Guiomar, P. Monteiro, On the design of efficient fiber-wireless architectures to enable multigigabit visible light communication, Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 188 - 188, February, 2025,
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  • Y. Li, G. Fernandes, D. Benton, A. Billaud, M. Fernandes, M. Patel, F. P. Guiomar, - Ellis, Beaconless Auto-Alignment for Single-Wavelength 4.18 Tbit/s Mode-Division Multiplexing Free-Space Optical Communications, Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol., No., pp. 1 - 8, 2025 | BibTex
  • M. Fernandes, G. Fernandes, B. Brandão, M. Freitas, N. K. Kaai, A. T. Tomeeva, B. D. W. Wielen, J. R. Reid, D. R. Raiteri, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, 4 Tbps+ FSO Field Trial Over 1.8 km With Turbulence Mitigation and FEC Optimization, Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 42, No. 11, pp. 4060 - 4067, June, 2024,
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  • V. C. Correia, M. Fernandes, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, G. Fernandes, On the Impact and Mitigation of Turbulence in Fiber-Coupled FSO Systems, IEEE Access, Vol. 12, No. -, pp. 69505 - 69516, May, 2024,
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  • M. Fernandes, G. Fernandes, B. Brandão, M. Freitas, N. K. Kaai, B. D. W. Wielen, J. R. Reid, D. R. Raiteri, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, Unraveling "Fiber in the Sky": Terabit Capacity Enabled by Coherent Optical Wireless, IEEE Communications Magazine, Vol. 62, No. 3, pp. 40 - 46, March, 2024,
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  • N. J. Nzekwu, M. Fernandes, G. Fernandes, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, A Comprehensive Review of UAV-Assisted FSO Relay Systems, Photonics, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 274 - 274, March, 2024,
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  • M. S. Neves, A. Lorences-Riesgo, C. M. Martins, S. Mumtaz, G. Charlet, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, Carrier-Phase Recovery for Coherent Optical Systems: Algorithms, Challenges and Solutions, Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 1095 - 1108, February, 2024,
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  • M. Freitas, M. Fernandes, Pedro A. Loureiro Loureiro, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, G. Fernandes, Robust and cost-efficient FSO transmission using a multi-mode fiber-coupled receiver, Optics Continuum, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 227 - 227, February, 2024,
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  • B. Brandão, M. Fernandes, G. Fernandes, N. K. Kaai, A. T. Tomeeva, B. D. W. Wielen, J. R. Reid, D. R. Raiteri, F. P. Guiomar, P. Monteiro, 100G FSO field trial with transmitter power adaptability using a LoRa feedback channel, Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 270 - 277, February, 2024,
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  • Pedro A. Loureiro Loureiro, F. P. Guiomar, P. Monteiro, Visible Light Communications: A Survey on Recent High-Capacity Demonstrations and Digital Modulation Techniques, Photonics, Vol. 10, No. 9, pp. 993 - 993, August, 2023,
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  • M. Fernandes, Pedro A. Loureiro Loureiro, G. Fernandes, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, Digitally Mitigating Doppler Shift in High-Capacity Coherent FSO LEO-to-Earth Links, Journal of Lightwave Technology, Vol. 41, No. 12, pp. 3993 - 4001, June, 2023,
    | Abstract
    | Full text (PDF 1 MB) | BibTex
  • 5Papers in Conferences
  • A. C. CAMPOS, M. Fernandes, G. Fernandes, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, Flexible and Cost-Efficient Auto-Alignment for Bidirectional Optical Wireless Communications, International Conf. on Transparent Optical Networks - ICTON, Bari, Italy, Vol., pp. -, July, 2024 | BibTex
  • B. M. Oliveira, M. S. Neves, J. H. Silva, F. P. Guiomar, M. C. R. Medeiros, P. Monteiro, Unlocking the Shaping Gain in Unamplified Coherent Links, Signal Processing in Photonic Communications (SPPCom) SPPCom, Quebec, Canada, Vol., pp. -, July, 2024,
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  • M. S. Neves, A. Lorences-Riesgo, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, Machine Learning-Aided Nonlinearity-Tailored Carrier Phase Recovery for Subcarrier Multiplexing Systems, OSA Optical Fiber Communications - OFC, San Diego, California, United States, March, 2024,
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  • R. K. Patel, S. Mumtaz, M. Fernandes, B. M. Oliveira, G. Charlet, Y. Zhao, P. Monteiro, A. Lorences-Riesgo, F. P. Guiomar, Low-Complexity Frequency Packing to Enable Filtering-Tolerant DSCM Transmission, Optical Fiber Conference (OFC), San Diego, United States, Vol., pp. -, March, 2024,
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  • M. Fernandes, G. Fernandes, B. Brandão, M. Freitas, N. K. Kaai, A. T. Tomeeva, B. D. W. Wielen, J. R. Reid, D. R. Raiteri, P. Monteiro, F. P. Guiomar, Achieving Multi-Terabit FSO Capacity with Coherent WDM Transmission Over a 1.8 km Field Trial, European Conference on Optical Communication ECOC, Glasgow, United Kingdom, Vol., pp. -, October, 2023,
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