Testbed for Experimental Characterization of Indoor Visible Light Communication Channels

Miqueas Fortes,Oswaldo González

doi:10.3390/electronics10111365

Miqueas Fortes, Oswaldo González

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10111365

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Journal: Electronics	Publication Date: Jun 7, 2021
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of La Laguna

Abstract

In this paper, we describe an experimental testbed designed to evaluate indoor visible light communications (VLC) in realistic scenarios. The system is based on a mockup where the location and orientation of the optical receiver can be modified with precision for a static configuration of walls and ceiling lamp arrangements. The system utilizes a timing synchronization method, which is based on evaluating the training sequence periods used for channel response estimation, which enables robust frame synchronization. In addition, an adaptive rate orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme is used to assess the VLC performance throughout the receiver plane emulating a real communication. The preliminary results obtained with this prototype, considering a multiple-input single-output (MISO) scenario, demonstrate that reflection on walls yields a significant increase in data rates, which can be additionally improved if appropriate orientation of the receiver is implemented. However, vertical orientation upward of the optical receiver still constitutes a simple solution but efficient enough. Moreover, a good agreement between simulation and experimental results is observed, which confirms the suitability of the mockup as an experimental testbed for practical evaluation of indoor VLC systems, where system performance for different lamp arrangements and receiver designs, including multi-user communications, can be studied.

Highlights

IntroductionThe dramatic demand for ubiquitous wireless data transfer in recent years has led to a renewed interest for alternatives to swamped radio communications, making visible light communication (VLC) an excellent, sustainable and energy-efficient candidate [1]
The dramatic demand for ubiquitous wireless data transfer in recent years has led to a renewed interest for alternatives to swamped radio communications, making visible light communication (VLC) an excellent, sustainable and energy-efficient candidate [1].This technology is based on the use of visible light-emitting diode (WLED) lamps to simultaneously illuminate and provide data communication
In spite of the inherent advantages of this kind of wireless optical communication (WOC), mainly the possibility of working with high power transmission in addition to the fact that these communications are confined to a very small area, there still exist many problems to solve [3]

Summary

Introduction

The dramatic demand for ubiquitous wireless data transfer in recent years has led to a renewed interest for alternatives to swamped radio communications, making visible light communication (VLC) an excellent, sustainable and energy-efficient candidate [1]. This technology is based on the use of visible (white) light-emitting diode (WLED) lamps to simultaneously illuminate and provide data communication. Another important issue is the necessity of a direct line-of-sight (LOS) between the emitter lamp and the receiver for a feasible communication, which is not always possible in a real environment where receiver orientation and shadowing effects are decisive in communication quality [9,10]

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Results

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