Gr-owc: An Open Source GNURadio-Based Toolkit for Optical Wireless Communications

Research in the field of optical wireless communications (OWC) has increased significantly over the past decade. As new researchers begin to explore this field, there are various hurdles related to developing a research program in OWC. This is particularly noticeable when comparing the breadth of available RF toolkits to the limited number of openly available OWC tools. Furthermore, many of the available OWC resources are standalone with limited capabilities for higher layer integration. In this work, we present gr-owc, an open source out-of-tree module for the widely used GNURadio signal processing toolkit. Within gr-owc, we have developed signal processing blocks for OWC channel simulation and common OWC modulation/demodulation techniques. We demonstrate use of this module to simulate a multi-cell/multi-user OWC network. We also describe how gr-owc signal processing blocks can be deployed in a physical implementation using Software Defined Radio (SDR) hardware, namely the universal software radio peripheral (USRP). Furthermore, methods for contribution to the project are described since the project is designed for continued development internally and with the goal of engaging the broader OWC research community.