This review describes challenges, advances, and perspectives on different aspects of the OAM-based optical communications, including (a) OAM generation/detection and (de)multiplexing, (b) classical free-space optical communication links, (c) fiber-based communication. This review describes challenges, advances, and perspectives on different aspects of the OAM-based optical communications, including (a) OAM generation/detection and (de)multiplexing, (b) classical free-space optical communication links, (c) fiber-based communication. Orbital angular momentum multiplexing is a physical layer method for multiplexing signals carried on electromagnetic waves using the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of the electromagnetic waves to distinguish between the different orthogonal signals. OAM is one of two forms of angular momentum. Optical vortices, characterized by their infinite orthogonal eigenmodes—such as orbital angular momentum (OAM) and cylindrical vector beam (CVB) modes—offer unprecedented opportunities for advancing optical communication systems. In this review, we focus on discussing the novel fibers that are suitable for stable OAM mode transmission and conversion. The fundamental theory of fiber modes is. Optical switching, which is an essential component of optical communication systems, enables information exchange between channels. In this study, we introduced a.
