Integrated Power and Data Transceiver Devices for Power-by-Light Systems - A Concept Study

In optical power transmission systems photovoltaic cells are used as power converters for monochromatic light. In case of powering remote sensors, supplementary to the optical power link also bidirectional data transmission between the two sides of the optical link is required. It is appealing to integrate the functionalities of the optical power link as well as the data up- and downlink into one. In this work, different concepts on how this integration and combination of functionalities can be realized are explored and possible system and device architectures for integrated transceiver devices are discussed, including different examples of practical realizations based on advanced semiconductor fabrication techniques.