Wavelength Shift Keying for Energy Harvesting in Ground-to-Air Free Space Optical links

Abstract

Free Space Optical-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle systems are attractive for delivering Fifth generation Mobile Network (5G) wireless communication services, leveraging the flex ibility of Network Flying Platform (NFP) and the capabilities of Free Space Opti cal (FSO) communication systems. The simultaneous information and power transfer has gained immense prominence in studies, whether it is in the context of indoor optical networks or Radio Frequency (RF) networks. However, balancing a drone’s battery life and power consumption along with the idea of Energy Harvesting (EH) from data bear ing FSO signals has not received significant attention in research. This study explores unique signal modulation approaches to enhance Energy Harvesting (EH) efficiency and Bit Error Rate (BER) analysis. The focal point of this endeavor is on the com munication between the ground-based FSO transmitter and the power grid by making straightforward transceiver topologies. In this regard, the simulations conducted for this system under versatile weather scenarios shows that higher transmission speeds or bitrates can be achieved with substantial quantity of captured energy. Moreover, in terms of Energy Harvesting (EH) and Bit Error Rate (BER) analysis, the WSK scheme exhibits better performance than OOK and DPSK.