Abstract
With the emergence of the fifth generation and beyond mobile networks, both visible light communications (VLC) and radio frequency (RF) or millimetre wave (mmW) systems are expected to maintain the connectivity in various environments. In outdoor environments the link (VLC or RF) availability is paramount, which is affected by channel conditions. In particular, in vehicular communications other vehicles, harsh environment, and road geometry and structure will have the impact on the link connectivity and availability. In such cases, a front-end antenna solution, which benefits both optical and RF communication links, can be seen as an attractive option that can be fitted in future vehicles. In this paper, we present the design and practical implementation of a planar hybrid VLC/mmW antenna operating at 20.8 GHz and show measured results for characterization of RF and VLC links as well as communications performance. We have used the widely adopted on-off keying and quadrature amplitude modulation schemes with different orders to demonstrate data rates of 5 Mb/s and up to 100 Mb/s for the VLC and mmW links, respectively. By measuring the bit error rate and the error vector magnitude for VLC and RF links, respectively for each modulation we have shown that the proposed hybrid planar antenna is suitable for example in a typical vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
Highlights
Hybrid optical-radio frequency wireless technologies are an attractive solution for reliable outdoor communication links
Measurement of the millimetre wave (mmW) antenna The normalised simulated and measured radiation patterns and the matching of the mmW antenna are shown in Fig. 4, where a very close agreement can be observed
The paper outlined the new design of mmW antenna and the supporting Tx and Rx circuits for visible light communications (VLC)
Summary
Hybrid optical-radio frequency wireless technologies are an attractive solution for reliable outdoor communication links. One outdoor application that takes advantage of both VLC and mmW technologies is the vehicular communications In such networks, the VLC transmitters (Txs) can be integrated into vehicle’s lightemitting diodes (LEDs)-based head- and tail-lights [12] while the highly directional and high frequency mmW link can result in much reduced inter-channel interference. In this work, we design and experimentally demonstrate a hybrid VLC/planar mmW antenna for an application in vehicular communications networks. The VLC section was first simulated using Analog Devices LTspice XVII [21] to verify the circuit functionality and the PCB was designed by (b) Fig. 2: Fabricated hybrid VLC/mmW antenna: (a) front side and (b) back side. A photograph of the integrated hybrid antenna is shown in Fig. 3 with the key components highlighted as well as antenna size
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
