Paper

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My First Paper

My first paper with my DPhil is a conference item, which explores the use of Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM), which when compared to devices in previous literature has a higher maximum output pulse rate. This higher pulse rate is shown to increase the highest maximum on-off keying data rate ever achieved at a bit error rate of $10^{-3}$.

Abstract

Results are presented which show that by using a SiPM with a higher maximum output pulse rate it is possible to increase the highest maximum OOK data rate ever achieved at a BER of 10$^{-3}$ from 2.4 Gbits/s to 3.45 Gbits/s.

Key Findings

It was reported that despite saturation, a 30035 SiPM used as a receiver achieved a maximum OOK data rate with a BER of $10^{-3}$ was 2.4 Gbits/s. The paper presented shows, that because he 30020 SiPM has a higher maximum output pulse rate, a 30020 SiPM can achieve the same BER at a data rate of 3.45 Gbits/s. This is a new world-record for the data rate achieved with a SiPM receiver. Unfortunately, saturation means that these high data rates occur at irradiances of more than 100mWm$^{-2}$, which are not eye safe at 405 nm. At irradiances which are more likely to occur when a VLC system is deployed either SiPM can support a data rate of up to 2 Gbits/s. In these situations the higher PDE of the 30035 means that it achieves a slightly higher data rate at the same irradiance than the 30020. However, at the same irradiance the 30020 consumes only a fraction of the power of the 30035, owing to it’s smaller microcell size. The 30020 may therefore be more suitable for systems, such as a smart phone, where power consumption is an important factor. In the future it should be possible to achieve even higher maximum data rates by using SiPMs with narrower output pulses.