Hard link-switching scheme using pre-scanning for indoor VLC networks

Abstract

VLC has been accepted as a potential technology for deployment in indoor wireless networks in 5G. Use of efficient link switching scheme among VLC access points is critical in indoor environment to provide seamless connectivity to mobile users. This paper proposes a User Device (UD) based intermittent link switching based on hard link switching. This method is highly suitable for the indoor scenario where most of the fixtures and furniture remains unchanged. A Coordinator is employed in this method, that stores this information, thus, user is not required to search for the best transmitter when RSS is reduced to a threshold value as in conventional methods which cause substantial delay in switching process. Here, coordinator predicts the user position and allots best possible source for that position based on pre-scanned database and transfer the link to new source while releasing the old one by the time user reached that particular position. This method reduces the substantial delay time that occurs in switching process applied in conventional hard link switching. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme for indoor VLC System achieves the dual purpose of adequate illumination and mobility to user in considered indoor scenario.