Relaying in optical wireless communication

Co-located MIMO systems might not be realisable for all applications and this encourages the implementation of distributed MIMO systems with widely separated nodes cooperating to provide spatial diversity. Such systems, which are also known as cooperative or relay-assisted communication, have been extensively investigated in the context of RF wireless communication. Multi-hop transmission is an alternative relay-assisted scheme, which employs multiple relays in serial configuration. RF multi-hop systems do not offer any diversity gain but they are typically employed to extend the coverage of communication networks. This chapter will investigate the application of distributed MIMO and relaying strategies as efficient solutions to overcome atmospheric degradations in OWC channels.