Failures within a communications network are compensated for by establishing a set of two or more communications paths across the network between a source node and a destination node. The system comprises a portable wireless remote control device, a lighting system controller, and at least one lighting system coupled to the lighting system controller. The controlling step includes controlling the voltage of the periodic signal based on the detected phase difference. Iterative detection algorithms that significantly improve the performance of the demodulators with minimal additional complexity are presented The methods use soft decoder output feedback and iterative demodulation and decoding to achieve performance close to that of coherent detection. Preferably, the optical relay assembly is designed to form an image from the exit aperture of the spherical mirrors assembly in the entrance aperture of the lens unit.