Modeling and simulation of indoor optical wireless channels: a review

The performance of non line-of-sight indoor infrared (IR) wireless communication systems depend on the reflection characteristics of the surfaces that surround the communication channel. In the indoor IR wireless channel, the main concern is not only the total amount of received power but also its time distribution. This can be completely characterised by the impulse response of the channel. This paper gives a brief review of the algorithms used to compute the impulse response of the indoor IR channel, such as the recursive method, statistical approach, Monte Carlo calculation, modified Monte Carlo scheme, DUSTIN algorithm, and iterative site-based modelling. The different methods are also compared based on their computational complexity, simulation time, computer memory requirements (preceding the calculations), accuracy, and adaptation for new environments.