Since 2011, optical wireless communication (OWC) technologies have gained momentum. OWC has been supported by an active research community, and entrepreneurs who have shown the merits of these technologies by showcasing real-time demonstrators and commercial OWC solutions. These technologies include visible light communications (VLC), underwater VLC, Li-Fi, optical camera communications (OCC), visible light positioning, visible light sensing and free space optics, among others. They have been shown to be an efficient means to satisfy the demanding requirements of backhaul and access network levels, and also to provide a means for accurate indoor positioning and sensing, or enable wireless communication in non-RF friendly environments. As a result, it is envisaged to become an indispensable part of 6G and will complement other communication methods to benefit our daily lives. This Special Issue contains a group of 10 selected papers accepted at the 8th Colloquium & 6th International Workshop on Optical Wireless Communications, co-located with the International Symposium on Communication Systems, Networks & Digital Signal Processing (CSNDSP 2022). This Special Issue has provided the best paper authors' the opportunity to extend their work beyond what was presented at this event, enabling new results and development to further advance the respective fields.

Accepted papers can be clustered into three main categories, namely theoretical, applications and performance oriented. The papers lying in the first category exhibit novelties in modelling of optical wireless channel, non-linear effects and synchronisation issues. The papers in this category are of Combeau et al., Vieira et al., and Rodrigues et al. The second category of papers presents different approaches to using OWC concepts in short and medium range applications. These papers are of Younus et al., Rêgo et al., and Uleru et al. The last category proposes new techniques to evaluate performance in systems employing OWC concepts, such as screen to the camera, light-emitting diode (LED) to multispectral camera, LED matrix arrays or reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) based OWC. These papers are of Yokar et al., Moreno et al., Mohammadi et al., and Salehiyan et al. A brief presentation of each of the paper in this Special Issue follows.

自 2011 年以来，光无线通信 (OWC) 技术发展势头强劲。OWC 得到了活跃的研究社区和企业家的支持，他们通过展示实时演示器和商业 OWC 解决方案展示了这些技术的优点。这些技术包括可见光通信（VLC）、水下VLC、Li-Fi、光学相机通信（OCC）、可见光定位、可见光传感和自由空间光学等。它们已被证明是一种有效的方法，可以满足回程和接入网络级别的严格要求，并且还可以提供精确的室内定位和感测的方法，或者在非射频友好的环境中实现无线通信。因此，它预计将成为6G不可或缺的一部分，并将补充其他通信方式，造福我们的日常生活。本特刊包含在与通信系统、网络和数字信号处理国际研讨会 (CSNDSP 2022) 同期举行的第八届学术讨论会和第六届光无线通信国际研讨会上接受的 10 篇精选论文。本特刊为最佳论文作者提供了将他们的工作扩展到本次活动之外的机会，从而实现新的成果和发展，以进一步推动各自领域的发展。与通信系统、网络和数字信号处理国际研讨会 (CSNDSP 2022) 同期举办。本特刊为最佳论文作者提供了将他们的工作扩展到本次活动之外的机会，从而实现新的成果和发展，以进一步推动各自领域的发展。与通信系统、网络和数字信号处理国际研讨会 (CSNDSP 2022) 同期举办。本特刊为最佳论文作者提供了将他们的工作扩展到本次活动之外的机会，从而实现新的成果和发展，以进一步推动各自领域的发展。

接受的论文可分为三大类，即理论论文、应用论文和性能导向论文。第一类论文在光无线信道建模、非线性效应和同步问题方面表现出新颖性。此类别中的论文是 Combeau 等人、Vieira 等人以及 Rodrigues 等人的论文。第二类论文提出了在短程和中程应用中使用 OWC 概念的不同方法。这些论文是 Younus 等人、Rêgo 等人以及 Uleru 等人的论文。最后一类提出了评估采用 OWC 概念的系统性能的新技术，例如屏幕到相机、发光二极管 (LED) 到多光谱相机、LED 矩阵阵列或基于可重构智能表面 (RIS) 的 OWC。这些论文是 Yokar 等人、Moreno 等人的论文，Mohammadi 等人和 Salehiyan 等人。本期特刊中每篇论文的简要介绍如下。