High-speed long-distance visible light communication based on multicolor series connection micro-LEDs and wavelength division multiplexing

Abstract

Multicolor series connection micro-LED arrays with emission wavelengths of violet, blue, green, and yellow were fabricated, and their optoelectronic properties and communication performances were investigated. The designed series connection micro-LED array exhibited the light output power of multiple milliwatts, whereas mostly keeping a slightly reduced modulation bandwidth, thus, enabling a higher signal-to-noise ratio compared to a single pixel and showing superior performance in the field of long-distance visible light communication (VLC). The achievable data rates of 400-, 451-, 509-, and 556-nm micro-LED arrays using bit/power loading orthogonal frequency division multiplexing were 5.71, 4.86, 4.39, and 0.82 Gbps, respectively. The aggregate data rate of 15.78 Gbps was achieved for the proof-of-concept wavelength division multiplexing system under a transmission distance of 13 m, which was the best data rate-distance product performance for the LED-based VLC to the best of our knowledge. In addition, the long-distance VLC based on yellow micro-LED was also demonstrated for the first time in this paper.