Free-space optical communication by retromodulation: concept, technologies, and challenges

FSO communication by retro-modulation is an innovative way to convey information between an optical transceiver and a semi-passive unit that reflects signals denoted by Modulating Retro Reflector (MRR). This concept is completely different from typical FSO communication systems consisting of two transceivers operating in full-duplex mode. In this paper, we review this new concept, analyze atmospheric effects due to folded paths propagation, evaluate different optical modulator technologies suitable for these applications and their impacts on system performance, and compare analysis results to the commonly implemented active intelligent RFID tags.

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