Channel modelling for indoor visible light communications

Abstract

<jats:p>Visible light communication (VLC) allows the dual use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for wireless communication purposes in addition to their primary purpose of illumination. As in any other communication system, realistic channel modelling is a key for VLC system design, analysis and testing. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of indoor VLC channel models. In order to set the background, we start with an overview of infrared (IR) channel modelling, which has received much attention in the past, and highlight the differences between visible and IR optical bands. In the light of these, we present a comparative discussion of existing VLC channel modelling studies and point out the relevant advantages and disadvantages. Then, we provide a detailed description of a site-specific channel modelling approach based on non-sequential ray tracing that precisely captures the optical propagation characteristics of a given indoor environment. We further present channel models for representative deployment scenarios developed through this approach that were adopted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) as reference channel models. Finally, we consider mobile VLC scenarios and investigate the effect of receiver location and rotation for a mobile indoor user.</jats:p> <jats:p>This article is part of the theme issue ‘Optical wireless communication’.</jats:p>

Optical wireless communication

“…A full understanding of the wavelength dependent reflectance and absorption of objects and materials in typical deployment scenarios such as homes, offices and manufacturing plants is paramount to the development of OWC networks. In this issue, we have a contribution by Miramirkhani & Uysal [28], who have been at the forefront of the development of channel models for OWC systems. The same group has provided reference channel models to the IEEE 802.11bb standardization group.…”

Organic photovoltaics for simultaneous energy harvesting and high-speed MIMO optical wireless communications

“…Consequently, data decoding is based on direct detection (DD) by one or more photodetectors (PDs). Different kinds of light sources and PDs have been used for OWC in a wide range of applications 6 – 11 . For instance, data rates as high as 15.7 Gb/s have been demonstrated by the efficient utilization of inexpensive off-the-shelf LEDs and high-speed silicon PDs 12 .…”

Design and Demonstration of a TDD-Based Central-Coordinated Resource-Reserved Multiple Access (CRMA) Scheme for Bidirectional VLC Networking

“…In [32] and in most practical cases, the influence of the diffuse component has no significant influence on the overall channel bandwidth, as it is masked by the strong LOS component. In addition, the researchers in [33] discussed in detail the interference for indoor VLC. Note that, Tx and Rx are physically different.…”