Optical Wireless Communication: Enhancing Data Rates with Ultra-Wideband Technology

Abstract

This paper is aimed at examining how ultra-wideband (UWB) technology can improve optical wireless communication (OWC) as regards the data rate, the latency, and overall system efficiency. A secondary research form was adapted where the sources included peer-reviewed journals, technical reports and industry studies to gather evidence on UWB-OWC integration. The results demonstrate that UWB-based OWC systems offer data rates of 160 Gbps, latency less than 1 ms and spectral efficiencies greater than 20 bits/s/Hz, compared to conventional RF systems with a maximum of 10-20 Gbps. Areas of application include IoT, UAV, vehicular and 6G backhaul networks, also with high resistance to interference. The work summarises that UWB-OWC is a scalable, energy-efficient, and future-proof technology to provide terabit wireless communication.