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Topic · Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Optical Wireless Communication Technologies

Optical Wireless Communication Technologies is a research topic within Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Science Explorer counts 21k research works in it since 1950. 13.1% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers focuses on the advancements, challenges, and applications of optical wireless communication systems and technologies, including visible light communication, free-space optical communication, underwater optical communication, MIMO techniques, and channel modeling. It covers topics such as indoor positioning systems, high data rate transmission, LED-based communication, and the effects of atmospheric turbulence.

  • Visible Light Communication
  • Free-Space Optical Communication
  • Underwater Optical Communication
  • Optical Wireless Networks
  • LED-Based Communication
  • Atmospheric Turbulence Effects
  • MIMO Techniques
  • Indoor Positioning Systems
  • High Data Rate Transmission
  • Channel Modeling
Research works
21k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.7k
per year above
Top-10% rate
13.1%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+69%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Optical Wireless Communication Technologies research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (2.2k and 816 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 2.2k works
  2. 2 India 816 works
  3. 3 United States 463 works
  4. 4 United Kingdom 218 works
  5. 5 Japan 207 works
  6. 6 South Korea 158 works
  7. 7 France 126 works
  8. 8 Germany 116 works
  9. 9 Iraq 114 works
  10. 10 Türkiye 105 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 48.6%India: 18.1%United States: 10.3%United Kingdom: 4.8%6 others listed: 18.3%49%largest
China2,196 · 48.6%India816 · 18.1%United States463 · 10.3%United Kingdom218 · 4.8%6 others listed826 · 18.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Optical Wireless Communication Technologies research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications publishes the most Optical Wireless Communication Technologies research, followed by Xidian University and Tsinghua University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsChina 91 works
  2. 2 Xidian UniversityChina 60 works
  3. 3 Tsinghua UniversityChina 50 works
  4. 4 Xi'an University of TechnologyChina 49 works
  5. 5 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 45 works
  6. 6 Fudan UniversityChina 43 works
  7. 7 Changchun University of Science and TechnologyChina 42 works
  8. 8 University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaChina 41 works
  9. 9 Nanjing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsChina 41 works
  10. 10 Chandigarh UniversityIndia 41 works

Who are the leading researchers in Optical Wireless Communication Technologies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Optical Wireless Communication Technologies include H. Vincent Poor, Rui Zhang and Mohamed‐Slim Alouini.

  1. 1 H. Vincent Poor United States 9.5k citations
  2. 2 Rui Zhang Singapore 6k citations
  3. 3 Mohamed‐Slim Alouini Saudi Arabia 5.9k citations
  4. 4 Zhu Han United States 4.7k citations
  5. 5 Dusit Niyato Singapore 4.5k citations
  6. 6 Zhiguo Ding United Kingdom 4.4k citations
  7. 7 Andreas F. Molisch United States 4.3k citations
  8. 8 Mérouane Debbah France 4.3k citations
  9. 9 Mohsen Guizani Qatar 3.7k citations
  10. 10 Victor C. M. Leung Canada 3.7k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Optical Wireless Communication Technologies research done?

The largest centres of Optical Wireless Communication Technologies research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Xi'an (China), Nanjing (China) and Shanghai (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Mohali.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 460 works
  2. 2 Xi'an China 211 works
  3. 3 Nanjing China 172 works
  4. 4 Shanghai China 144 works
  5. 5 Shenzhen China 104 works
  6. 6 Chengdu China 86 works
  7. 7 Tokyo Japan 82 works
  8. 8 Guangzhou China 78 works
  9. 9 Wuhan China 76 works
  10. 10 Seoul South Korea 72 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MohaliIN · 41.1 works10×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Optical Wireless Communication Technologies than the world average.

See Optical Wireless Communication Technologies on the map

Where is the best place to study Optical Wireless Communication Technologies?

Among universities, judged by research, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Xidian University and Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 15.44%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: 29, 26.2%Xidian University: 60, 8.6%Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications: 41, 11.3%Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications: 91, 13.9%Indian Institute of Technology Delhi: 32, 11.5%University of Strathclyde: 12, 21.2%University Town of Shenzhen: 12, 13.7%National Taipei University of Technology: 12, 20.7%Pukyong National University: 10, 15.3%Indian Institute of Technology Indore: 16, 12.0%King Abdullah Univer…Beijing University o…Nanjing University o…Xidian University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 King Abdullah University of Science and TechnologySaudi Arabia 77.926.2%17.1×29 +619.2%
2 Xidian UniversityChina 64.58.6%13.7×60 +219.9%
3 Nanjing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsChina 63.011.3%15.9×41 +299.1%
4 Beijing University of Posts and TelecommunicationsChina 61.713.9%24.8×91 +40.5%
5 Indian Institute of Technology DelhiIndia 58.011.5%10.6×32 +138.9%
6 University of StrathclydeUnited Kingdom 57.921.2%7.6×12 +449.3%
7 University Town of ShenzhenChina 56.913.7%29.1×12 +571.0%
8 National Taipei University of TechnologyTaiwan 56.820.7%13.4×12 +106.3%
9 Pukyong National UniversitySouth Korea 56.815.3%11.0×10 +422.4%
10 Indian Institute of Technology IndoreIndia 56.712.0%15.7×16 +229.2%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Optical Wireless Communication Technologies research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 69% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Optical Wireless Communication Technologies.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.