Multipath dispersion of pulse signals in a non-line-of-sight optical scattering channel

Multipath-induced pulse broadening in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) optical scattering channel is investigated. Expressions for impulse response and digital signal-to-noise ratio (DSNR) penalty induced by inter-symbol interference (ISI) of a NLOS ultraviolet (UV) scattering communication are introduced based on a single-scattering model, and simulated results for some typical atmospheric condition and configuration of geometry are given in the paper. It is shown that the multipath dispersion is one of the most important factors limiting the system performances, and return-to-zero (RZ) format is more suitable for the optical scattering communications than non-return-to-zero (NRZ) format. The method proposed here can be used to predict available bandwidth and data rate of the communication system operating in a NLOS optical scattering channel.