Omnidirectional free space optical communication receivers can employ multiple non-imaging collectors, such as
compound parabolic concentrators (CPCs), in an array-like fashion to increase the amount of possible light collection.
CPCs can effectively channel light collected over a large aperture to a small area photodiode. The aperture to length ratio
of such devices can increase the overall size of the transceiver unit, which may limit the practicality of such systems,
especially when small size is desired. New non-imaging collector designs with smaller sizes, larger field of view (FOV),
and comparable transmission curves to CPCs, offer alternative transceiver designs. This paper examines how transceiver
performance is affected by the use of different non-imaging collector shapes that are designed for wide FOV with
reduced efficiency compared with shapes such as the CPC that are designed for small FOV with optimal efficiency.
Theoretical results provide evidence indicating that array-like transceiver designs using various non-imaging collector
shapes with less efficient transmission curves, but a larger FOV will be an effective means for the design of
omnidirectional optical transceiver units. The results also incorporate the effects of Fresnel loss at the collector exit
aperture-photodiode interface, which is an important consideration for indoor omnidirectional FSO systems.
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