"A picture can be worth more than a thousand words!" - A pixelated multi-input/multi-ouput wireless optical channel

Most wireless optical channels employ a single transmit element and a single receive element. In an effort to improve the spectral efficiency of wireless optical channels, the use of a plurality of optical transmitters and receivers has received some attention. These multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) wireless optical channels achieve higher spectral efficiencies by exploiting the inherent spatial degrees of freedom to convey additional information. In this talk, we will survey current MIMO techniques to improve the spectral efficiency of wireless optical channels. Typical applications arise in areas such as optical interconnect, wireless optical quasi-diffuse links as well as holographic storage channels. In particular, the talk will present results on a recently proposed channel, the pixelated wireless optical channel. This channel transmits data by forming a time-vary optical intensity image using an array of transmitters and detecting this image with an array of receivers. Some potential applications for this work are presented in the areas of communications and storage. An experimental prototype of this channel will be briefly presented along with a derived channel model and results are presented using the derived model.