Outage Performance of RIS-Aided FSO-Based Ground-Air Integrated Vehicular Networks

Abstract

Significant obstacles to the practical design of free-space optical communications (FSOs) include atmospheric turbulence and pointing problems. Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is an emerging technology that uses inexpensive inactive reflecting materials to intelligently gently change the beam in the appropriate direction, enabling reflective radio transmission conditions for next-generation 5G/6G wireless frameworks. In this study, we suggested an FSO system with RIS assistance to mitigate the effects of signal blockage in the communication system, atmospheric turbulence, and the UAV’s misalignment-induced fading. In a free-space environment with obstacles, the probability density function and cumulative distribution functions of an FSO system made up of RIS are derived. We obtained closed-form formulas for the outage probability of the proposed system. The performance analysis of the considered system under different weather conditions, pointing errors, and RIS vibration is done in terms of the outage probability. The findings are presented in relation to the transmitted power, the transmission distance, and the outage performance. Because the considered system will offer dependable connectivity in urban settings with dense populations and tall structures, it will be advantageous for ground-air integrated vehicular network applications.