Hybrid DCO-OFDM, ACO-OFDM and PAM-DMT for dimmable LiFi

Abstract

This paper proposes a hybrid orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation termed as hybrid DC-biased asymmetrically-clipped pulse-amplitude-modulated OFDM (HDAP-OFDM) for providing power efficient communication and dimming control for light fidelity (LiFi) schemes. The proposed HDAP-OFDM is a combination of three OFDM formats: DC-biased optical OFDM (DCO-OFDM), asymmetrically clipped optical OFDM (ACO-OFDM) and pulse amplitude modulated discrete multitone (PAM-DMT). In HDAP-OFDM, the lower-index subcarriers carry DCO-OFDM, while the remaining higher subcarriers carry ACO-OFDM on the odd-index subcarriers and PAM-DMT on the even-index subcarriers. Mathematical analysis shows that the required DC bias for HDAP-OFDM is a function of the required dimming levels and the root mean square of the three of its components. Furthermore, an algorithm is presented to simulate the dimming control of HDAP-OFDM. Simulations results indicate that by adjusting the proportion of subcarriers for the three OFDM/DMT elements, HDAP-OFDM can have a wide dimming range, a low peak to average power ratio, and high power efficiency. Results also show that at a bit error rate of 10−3 and a dimming range of 3%–97%, HDAP-OFDM exhibits 8 dB more optical and electrical power efficiency than existing asymmetrical hybrid optical OFDM.