Optical wireless communication (OWC) is an excellent complementary solution to its radio frequency (RF) counterpart. OWC technologies have been demonstrated to be able to support high traffic generated by massive connectivity of the Internet of Things (IoT) and upcoming 5th generation (5G) wireless communication systems. As the characteristics of OWC and RF are complementary, a combined application is regarded as a promising approach to support 5G and beyond communication systems. Hybrid RF/optical and optical/optical wireless systems offer an excellent solution for recovering the limitations of individual systems as well as for providing positive features of each of the technologies. An RF/optical wireless hybrid system consists both RF and optical-based wireless technologies, whereas an optical/optical wireless hybrid system consists two or more types of OWC technologies. The co-deployment of wireless systems can improve system performance in terms of throughput, reliability, and energy efficiency of individual networks. This study surveys the state of the art and key research directions regarding optical wireless hybrid networks, being the first extensive survey dedicated to this topic. We provide a technology overview of existing literature on optical wireless hybrid networks, such as RF/optical and optical/optical systems. We consider the RF-based macrocell, small cell, wireless fidelity, and Bluetooth, as well as optical-based visible light communication, light fidelity, optical camera communication, and free-space optical communication technologies for different combinations of hybrid systems. Moreover, we consider underwater acoustic communication for hybrid acoustic/optical systems. The opportunities brought by hybrid systems are presented in detail. We outline important challenges that need to be addressed for successful deployment of optical wireless hybrid network systems for 5G and IoT paradigms.

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Optical Wireless Hybrid Networks: Trends, Opportunities, Challenges, and Research Directions

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and ambient backscatter communication have been envisioned as two promising technologies for the Internet-of-things due to their high spectral efficiency and energy efficiency. Motivated by this fact, we consider an ambient backscatter NOMA system in the presence of a malicious eavesdropper. Under the realistic assumptions of residual hardware impairments (RHIs), channel estimation errors (CEEs) and imperfect successive interference cancellation (ipSIC), we investigate the physical layer security (PLS) of the ambient backscatter NOMA systems with emphasis on reliability and security. In order to further improve the security of the considered system, an artificial noise scheme is proposed where the radio frequency (RF) source acts as a jammer that transmits interference signals to the legitimate receivers and eavesdropper. On this basis, the analytical expressions for the outage probability (OP) and the intercept probability (IP) are derived. To gain more insights, the asymptotic analysis and corresponding diversity orders for the OP in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime are carried out, and the asymptotic behaviors of the IP in the high main-to-eavesdropper ratio (MER) region are explored as well. Finally, the correctness of the theoretical analysis is verified by the Monte Carlo simulation results. These results show that compared with the non-ideal conditions, the reliability of the considered system is high under ideal conditions, but the security is low.

Hardware Impaired Ambient Backscatter NOMA Systems: Reliability and Security

In this paper, we study the physical layer secrecy performance of a hybrid satellite and free-space optical (FSO) cooperative system. The satellite links are assumed to follow the shadowed-Rician fading distribution, and the channel of the terrestrial link between the relay and destination is assumed to experience the gamma-gamma fading. For the FSO communications, the effects of different types of detection techniques (i.e., heterodyne detection and intensity modulation with direct detection) as well as the pointing error are considered. We derive exact analytical expressions for the average secrecy capacity and secrecy outage probability (SOP) for both cases of amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) relaying. The asymptotic analysis for the SOP is also conducted to provide more insights on the impact of FSO and satellite channels on secrecy performance. It is found that with the AF with fixed gain scheme, the secrecy diversity order of the investigated system is only dependent on the channel characteristics of the FSO link and the FSO detection type, whereas the secrecy diversity is zero when the relay node employs DF or AF with variable-gain schemes.

Physical Layer Security of Hybrid Satellite-FSO Cooperative Systems

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and ambient backscatter communication have been envisioned as two promising technologies for the Internet-of-things due to their high spectral efficiency and energy efficiency. Motivated by this fact, we consider an ambient backscatter NOMA system in the presence of a malicious eavesdropper. Under some realistic assumptions of residual hardware impairments (RHIs), channel estimation errors (CEEs) and imperfect successive interference cancellation (ipSIC), we investigate the physical layer security (PLS) of the ambient backscatter NOMA systems focusing on reliability and security. In order to further improve the security of the considered system, an artificial noise scheme is proposed where the radio frequency (RF) source acts as a jammer that transmits interference signal to the legitimate receivers and eavesdropper. On this basis, the analytical expressions for the outage probability (OP) and the intercept probability (IP) are derived. To gain more insights, the asymptotic analysis and diversity orders for the OP in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime are carried out, and the asymptotic behaviors of the IP in the high main-to-eavesdropper ratio (MER) region are explored as well. Numerical results show that: 1) RHIs, CEEs and ipSIC have negative effects on the OP but positive effects on the IP; 2) Compared with CEEs, RHIs have a more serious impact on the reliability and security of the considered system; 3) There exists a trade-off between reliability and security, and this trade-off can be optimized by reducing the power coefficient of the artificial noise or increasing the interfering factor of readers; 4) There are error floors for the OP due to the CEEs and the reflection coefficient; 5) As MER grows large, the security for Rnand Rf is improved, while the security for T is reduced.

In this paper, we provide a global framework analysis of a dual-hop mixed radio frequency (RF)/free space optical (FSO) system with multiple branches/relays wherein the first and second hops, respectively, consist of RF and FSO channels. To cover various cases of fading, we propose generalized channels’ models for RF and FSO links that follow the Nakagami-m and the double generalized gamma distributions, respectively. Moreover, we suggest channel state information (CSI)-assisted relaying or variable relaying gain based amplifiy-and-forward amplification. Partial relay selection with outdated CSI is assumed as a relay selection protocol based on the knowledge of the RF CSI. In order to derive the end-to-end signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio statistics, such as the cumulative distribution function, the probability density function, the higher order moments, the amount of fading and the moment generating function, the numerical values of the fading severity parameters are only valid for integer values. Based on these statistics, we derive closed-forms of the outage probability, the bit error probability, the ergodic capacity, and the outage capacity in terms of Meijer-G, univariate, bivariate, and trivariate Fox-H functions. Capitalizing on these expressions, we derive the asymptotic high SNR to unpack valuable engineering insights of the system performance. Monte Carlo simulation is used to confirm the analytical expressions.

Mixed RF/FSO Cooperative Relaying Systems With Co-Channel Interference

In this paper, we propose a dual-hop radio-frequency (RF)/free-space optical system with multiple relays employing the decode-and-forward and amplify-and-forward with a fixed gain relaying scheme. The RF channels are subject to a Rayleigh distribution while the optical links experience a unified fading model emcopassing the atmospheric turbulence that follows the Malaga distribution (or also called the $\mathcal {M}$ -distribution), the atmospheric path loss, and the pointing error. Partial relay selection with outdated channel state information is proposed to select the candidate relay to forward the signal to the destination. At the reception, the detection of the signal can be achieved following either heterodyne or intensity modulation and direct detection. Many previous attempts neglected the impact of the hardware impairments and assumed ideal hardware. This assumption makes sense for low data rate systems but it would no longer be valid for high data rate systems. In this paper, we propose a general model of hardware impairment to get insight into quantifying its effects on the system performance. We will demonstrate that the hardware impairments have small impact on the system performance for low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), but it can be destructive at high SNR values. Furthermore, analytical expressions and upper bounds are derived for the outage probability and ergodic capacity while the symbol error probability is obtained through the numerical integration method. Capitalizing on these metrics, we also derive the high SNR asymptotes to get valuable insight into the system gains, such as the diversity and the coding gains. Finally, analytical and numerical results are presented and validated by the Monte Carlo simulation.

Aggregate Hardware Impairments Over Mixed RF/FSO Relaying Systems With Outdated CSI

In this paper, we investigate the impact of the high-power amplifier non-linear distortion on multiple relay systems by introducing the soft envelope limiter, traveling wave tube amplifier, and solid-state power amplifier to the relays. The system employs amplify-and-forward either fixed or variable gain relaying and uses the opportunistic relay selection with outdated channel state information to select the best relay. The results show that the performance loss is small at low rates; however, it is significant for high rates. In particular, the outage probability and the bit error rate are saturated by an irreducible floor at high rates. The same analysis is pursued for the capacity and shows that it is saturated by a detrimental ceiling as the average signal-to-noise ratio becomes higher. This result contrasts the case of the ideal hardware where the capacity grows indefinitely. Moreover, the results show that the capacity ceiling is proportional to the impairment’s parameter and for some special cases the impaired systems practically operate in acceptable conditions. Closed-forms and high SNR asymptotes of the outage probability, the bit error rate, and the capacity are derived. Finally, analytical expressions are validated by the Monte Carlo simulation.

Impact of Non-Linear High-Power Amplifiers on Cooperative Relaying Systems

In this paper, we investigate the performance analysis of dual hop relaying system consisting of asymmetric Radio Frequency (RF)/Free Optical Space (FSO) links. The RF channels follow a Rayleigh distribution and the optical links are subject to Gamma-Gamma fading. We also introduce impairments to our model and we suggest Partial Relay Selection (PRS) protocol with Amplify-and-Forward (AF) fixed gain relaying. The benefits of employing optical communication with RF, is to increase the system transfer rate and thus improving the system bandwidth. Many previous research attempts assuming ideal hardware (source, relays, etc.) without impairments. In fact, this assumption is still valid for low-rate systems. However, these hardware impairments can no longer be neglected for high-rate systems in order to get consistent results. Novel analytical expressions of outage probability and ergodic capacity of our model are derived taking into account ideal and non- ideal hardware cases. Furthermore, we study the dependence of the outage probability and the system capacity considering, the effect of the correlation between the outdated CSI (Channel State Information) and the current source-relay link, the number of relays, the rank of the selected relay and the average optical Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) over weak and strong atmospheric turbulence. We also demonstrate that for a non- ideal case, the end-to-end Signal to Noise plus Distortion Ratio (SNDR) has a certain ceiling for high SNR range. However, the SNDR grows infinitely for the ideal case and the ceiling caused by impairments no longer exists. Finally, numerical and simulation results are presented.

Partial Relay Selection for Hybrid RF/FSO Systems with Hardware Impairments

In this work, we investigate the performance of a millimeter waves (mmWaves) cellular system with free space optical (FSO) backhauling. MmWave channels are subject to Nakagami-m fading while the optical links experience the Double Generalized Gamma including atmospheric turbulence, path loss and the misalignment between the transmitter and the receiver aperture (also known as the pointing errors). The FSO model also takes into account the receiver detection technique which could be either heterodyne or intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD). Each user equipment (UE) has to be associated to one serving base station (BS) based on the received signal strength (RSS) or Channel State Information (CSI). We assume partial relay selection (PRS) with CSI based on mmWaves channels to select the BS associated with the highest received CSI. Each serving BS decodes the received signal for denoising, converts it into modulated FSO signal, and then forwards it to the data center. Thereby, each BS can be viewed as a decode-and-forward (DF) relay. In practice, the relay hardware suffers from nonlinear high power amplification (HPA) impairments which, substantially degrade the system performance. In this work, we will discuss the impacts of three common HPA impairments named respectively, soft envelope limiter (SEL), traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA), and solid state power amplifier (SSPA). Novel closed-forms and tight upper bounds of the outage probability, the probability of error, and the achievable rate are derived. Capitalizing on these performance, we derive the high SNR asymptotes to get engineering insights into the system gain such as the diversity order.

Elyes Balti

Papers

Mixed RF/FSO Cooperative Relaying Systems With Co-Channel Interference

Aggregate Hardware Impairments Over Mixed RF/FSO Relaying Systems With Outdated CSI

Impact of Non-Linear High-Power Amplifiers on Cooperative Relaying Systems

Partial Relay Selection for Hybrid RF/FSO Systems with Hardware Impairments

Tractable Approach to MmWaves Cellular Analysis With FSO Backhauling Under Feedback Delay and Hardware Limitations