Unit-5

Optical Wireless Technologies

Session-9
Potential Applications and Challenges

1
 VLC APPLICATIONS
 There are already a wide variety of existing wireless communication technologies,
such as IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN, IEEE 802.15 wireless PAN, and IEEE 802.16
wireless MAN.
VLC guidance system
 In a VLC guidance system, lighting lamps that illuminate a yard, national border,
or facility can also be used for guidance as well as for protection from outside
attacks. The lamps have an identification number (VLC ID or LED ID) and
guidance information.
 There are two different illumination strategies for security guiding.
--Fixed position with the lamp ID.
--Mobile position with the lamp ID.
 Visible light communication can provide specific information with illumination
ID.
 We can define specific information such as when to turn the lights on, brightness
value, temperature value, facility build date, lamp installed date, and geographic
position coordinates.
 We can make an application for an intelligent security guidance system using the
information through light by visible-light communication.
 Street lamps with visible-light communications provide location or status
information of the street.
 VLC street lamps can enable a convenient information system that can support
advertising as well as geographical guidance for pedestrians or vehicles.

Fig- Guidance assistance with VLC

 VLC Color Imaginable System
 Color conveys information itself, whether from instinct or education.
 When we see a left arrow at a traffic signal, for example, we know we can turn left
by instinct. The red color at a traffic signal tells us to stop and wait. A number
countdown on a signal indicates how many seconds remain before a state change.
 A lamp with visible-light communication provides a user with a receiving device
the information or the number.
 The information or the number utilizes an intelligent traffic system with digitalized
data. The traffic signal can communicate to a vehicle with intelligent ECU
(Electronic Control Unit) system.
 The vehicle can drive by itself according to the traffic signal, without the
automobile driver. Such a VLC system offers the promise of being faster, safer,
and more convenient. A VLC traffic signal can also be used to help a person who is
visually handicapped.
 VLC Indoor Navigator
 lamp with visible-light communication can provide a function for indoor
navigations in areas where GPS are not supported. We can ask someone “Which
light are you under?” instead of “Where are you?”
 Many technologies can be considered for indoor-positioning navigation, such as
Wi-Fi, ultrasonic active beacon, RFID tag, and infrared cameras for indoor areas
where a GPS signal is not available. Most of all, if the location of VLC-LED
lighting is predetermined, it can be easily recognized where the receiver location is
under a lighting fixture. This technology has the LED lighting function and at the
same time delivers the positioning-ID information with light. Additionally, the ID
information can also provide the status information of an object.

Fig- The configuration of VLC messages through LED lighting control networks.
 VLC Automobile Driving Support System
 An automobile has many lamps that facilitate safe driving, including headlights,
fog lights, turn signals, and brake lights.
 Augmenting these lamps with visible-light communication would open up new
applications such as car-to-car communications. For example, when a driver sees
brake lights on a preceding car, he or she knows that the car is slowing down, but
has no idea how quickly the car is decelerating.
 The brake light looks the same, regardless of whether there is a sudden emergency
stop from 100 km/hr to 0 km/hr, or whether there is a slight decrease from 100
km/hr to only 60 km/hr, perhaps because the driver is slowing down to enjoy a
scenic view.

Fig- An example of car-to-car VLC applications.

 CHALLENGES
 The main challenges of VLC communications, from light-specific issues (flickering,
dimming, line of sight, and interference) to wireless communication-related challenges
(such as uplink and mobility).
A. Line of Sight (LOS)
 In indoor VLC based systems, it is assumed that the user is within the line of sight of the
light source. In many indoor scenarios, illumination is done deliberately by reflection or
refraction and are covered by lamp shades, covers and are turned towards walls or other
objects.
 Most of the applications involving indoor VLC systems propose a direct LOS based
mechanism. The receiver must be within the line of sight of the transmitter. The main
advantage offered by this mechanism is the reception of a stronger signal.
 The main difference between the LOS configuration and non-LOS configuration is the
intensity of the received light, which is greatly impacted by the angle and direction of the
transmitter, where a wider angle leads to a weaker signal, while a narrower angle leads to
a stronger signal.

Fig- (a) Direct LOS. (b) Non-direct LOS. (c) Diffuse light.
 B. Flickering

 Flickering is a major challenge for VLC and can be defined as the

fluctuation in the brightness of the light perceptible by humans.
 Usually, this problem is addressed in work that implements indoor
VLC systems, such as an office or supermarket.
 Depending on the modulation mechanism of the light waves, there may
be oscillations perceptible by the human eye, which may cause
discomfort and health risks.
 Thus, there is a need to modulate light on/off status or intensity so that
the smallest of their on/off frequencies is greater than the threshold at
which the human being perceives them, which is around 3 KHz.
 There is a duality between low-frequency communications that result
in lower data rates and the flickering caused by them.
 C. Noise and Interference

• In addition to natural light, artificial lights also interfere with communication, and
may even saturate the receiver. Another factor that causes interference at the
receiver is the multi-path problem.
• Different from a wired communication, where the propagation of the signal is
mainly restricted to the wire, in Visible Light Communication the signal can
propagate in the environment in the direction of the LED lamps, but also including
refraction and reflection, reaching the receiver more than once.
• VLC systems that work in environments with other light sources (LED,
incandescent, fluorescent) used for illumination will be under the influence of
noise.
• The solutions to mitigate interference and noise includes the use of optical filters.
Through the use of filters, noises from natural sources of light can be removed.
• In general, interference and noise are unavoidable for VLC systems, due to natural
and artificial light.
 D. Uplink

 A useful communication system built with VLC must allow uplink and downlink.
LED light bulbs can be used for both, as a VLC transmitter and as a light source.
 In the receiver, a simple photodiode can be used to receive modulated light, which
will be further decoded.
 The use of radio frequency as an alternative to VLC uplink offers some
advantages.
--For example, we do not need visible light transmitters on personal
devices. However, RF transceivers will have to be coupled in both VLC devices,
the transmitter, and receiver.
--This approach may incur a higher communication system cost. In
addition, in some environments, the use of RF is not the best solution if the
spectrum is limited.
 E. Dimming

 When using LED lamps in a VLC system, the communication signal power is
directly related to the light intensity.
 Thus, theoretically, the lower the light intensity, the smaller the communication
range and the data communication rate.
 Dimming is the control of the perceived light source brightness, according to the
illumination requirement of the user.
 In many places, dimming is an essential feature, creating benefits such as
comfortable environments and energy saving.
 Variable Pulse Position Modulation is also adapted for dimming control, as well
as providing protection against intra-frame flickering.
 F. Mobility
 The receiver must be able to detect light signals from the transmitter anywhere in
a room.
 --For that, a larger emission angle is needed at the
transmitter and a higher FOV at the receiver, which may cause greater interference
by the refracted waves.
 VLC differs significantly from RF in terms of signal propagation, because it
relies heavily on LOS. SNR of the light can vary greatly when the receiver moves,
even within the light coverage area.
 An internal VLC system uses white LEDs that enables full mobility within the
transmitter’s coverage.
 For this, an angular diversity receiver (ADR) is used, in which photodiodes are
coupled geometrically, in order to obtain a spherical coverage of the environment.
• In addition, the receiver implements selective combination (SC), so the receiver
with the highest signal is used for signal detection.
• In a closed environment of 5 m2, the system was able to offer complete mobility
and has a satisfactory operation at speeds up to 55 Mbps.
• Handover techniques are important to support user mobility without information
loss.
• LiFi-based systems allow multiple access points to form a network with the
integrated handover. Vehicular systems also require handover mechanisms since
most nodes are constantly moving.
• For VLC systems to be commercially successful, particularly in the consumer
market, the challenges related to signal coverage and mobility need to be
addressed.