Resilient and Sustainable Optical Wireless Communications Systems for Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial Applications

Resilient and sustainable optical wireless communication (OWC) systems are emerging as a critical enabler for future 6G and beyond networks, addressing the growing demand for ultra-high data rates, low latency, and energy efficiency. With the rapid densification of terrestrial networks and the expansion of non-terrestrial platforms such as satellites, high-altitude platforms (HAPS), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), there is an urgent need for communication technologies that are complementary to RF and operate reliably across diverse and dynamic environments. OWC, including free-space optics (FSO) and visible light communication (VLC), offers vast unlicensed spectrum, high security, and minimal electromagnetic interference, making it highly attractive for both ground and space applications. FSO-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems are also emerging as a future technology for secure communication. These systems use FSO to transmit quantum bits over wireless channels, offering high data rates, low latency, and reduced electromagnetic interference.

However, these systems are inherently sensitive to environmental factors such as atmospheric turbulence, weather conditions, misalignment, and mobility, which can degrade performance and reliability. At the same time, sustainability considerations — reducing energy consumption, enabling green networking, and supporting scalable infrastructure — are becoming central to future network design. This Research Topic aims to bring together cutting-edge research addressing robustness, adaptability, and energy efficiency in OWC systems across terrestrial and non-terrestrial domains. It will foster interdisciplinary advances in channel modelling, signal processing, AI-driven optimisation, hybrid RF/optical integration, system-level design, and FSO-QKD systems, contributing to resilient, sustainable, and globally connected communication ecosystems.

Optical wireless communication (OWC) systems for terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks face significant challenges due to atmospheric turbulence, fog and smoke, weather variability, misalignment, and mobility, all of which degrade link reliability and increase error rates. In addition, the need for energy-efficient and scalable solutions is critical for sustainable 6G deployments. This Research Topic addresses the problem of achieving resilient and sustainable OWC links under dynamic conditions. To tackle this, advances are needed in robust experimental channel characterisation and modelling, adaptive modulation and coding, AI-driven optimisation, hybrid RF/optical integration, and energy-aware system design, enabling reliable, high-capacity communication across diverse environments.

Optical wireless communication (OWC) has gained significant attention as a complementary technology to radio frequency (RF) systems for beyond-5G and 6G networks, driven by the need for ultra-high data rates, low latency, and spectrum availability. Technologies such as free-space optics (FSO) and visible light communication (VLC) use unlicensed optical spectrum to deliver high-capacity links for terrestrial applications (e.g., small-cell backhaul/fronthaul) and non-terrestrial platforms, including satellites, high-altitude platforms (HAPS), and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). However, OWC systems are highly sensitive to environmental factors such as atmospheric turbulence, weather conditions, and alignment issues, which impact link reliability. Consequently, research is increasingly focused on enhancing resilience, adaptability, and energy efficiency to enable sustainable and robust optical wireless networks.

We welcome submissions on, but not limited to, the following themes:

- Advanced channel modelling for atmospheric turbulence, weather effects, and mobility in terrestrial and non-terrestrial OWC links.

- Experimental characterisation and deployments for channel investigation and performance evaluation.

- Adaptive modulation and coding schemes to improve reliability and spectral efficiency under dynamic channel conditions.

- Wavelet- and AI-based signal processing techniques for noise mitigation and performance enhancement.

- Hybrid RF/OWC systems for seamless connectivity and improved link availability.

- Machine learning and AI-driven optimisation for resource allocation, beam tracking, and link adaptation.

- Energy-efficient and green communication design for sustainable 6G optical wireless networks.

- Integration of OWC with non-terrestrial networks (NTN), including satellites, HAPS, and UAVs.

- Advanced photonic devices and transceiver design for high-speed, low-power optical communication.

- Security and physical-layer encryption in optical wireless systems.

- System-level design and network architecture for scalable, resilient, and high-capacity OWC deployment.

- Next-generation Quantum Key Distribution (QKD)-enabled free-space optics communication.

- Performance estimation of QKD–FSO systems employing QKD protocols.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Free-space optics, optical wireless communication, 6G networks, atmospheric turbulence, non-terrestrial networks, quantum key distribution, visible light communication, hybrid RF/OWC, UAV communications, AI-Driven optimization

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.