Security and propagation issues and challenges in VLC and OCC systems

Abstract

Both Visible Light Communication (VLC) and Optical Camera Communication (OCC), as technologies and applications of the Optical Wireless Communication (OWC), have been intensely investigated in recent years. Because of their advanced implementations prove to be reliable candidates as partners of the various wireless transmissions based on radio frequency waves, and in some special situations, principal actors for different wireless communication scenarios in particular situations such as the medical field, petrochemical industry or indoor spaces overcrowded where the radio frequency spectrum crunch becomes obvious. We analyze several indoor setups and unique situations that incur alleged security breaches and future challenges in secure VLC and OCC data communication. We also present here an investigation of topologies and transmission scenarios with influences on a secure, reliable wireless transmission system as well as vulnerabilities and threads in VLC and OCC networks. The optical properties of the visible light as a reliable communication medium are explored here, as well. Both VLC and OCC have their own benefits, as well as drawbacks, from the point of view of the overall security and performance, as well as the ability to keep the communication as a continuous operational, intact, and trusty service. An experiment conducted using low frame rate cameras in OCC shown the minimum distance between the centers of the LEDs that still allow an appropriate separation of the frames captured.