Implementation of a Full-Duplex Visible Light Communication System

Abstract

In telecommunication research, most outputs are based on simulation and/or analysis. Practical implementations are scarce. This is the case with visible light communication systems. With the knowledge that there is a gap between theoretical and practical implementation, we propose in this paper a two-way light communication system that provides efficient transmitting and receiving of files between two nodes. First, we develop hardware consisting of an emitting antenna, a receiving antenna, and a microcontroller. In order to ensure file transmission, we also develop software using the MATLAB programming language. Experimental results indicate that the bit error rate (BER) of the system increases with the transmission range, the data rate, and the angle of incidence. Accordingly, the recovered files match the transmitted files without any error correction scheme. An appropriate choice of system parameters can allow the BER to reach zero. An effective data rate of 1 Mbps is obtained with a BER of $6\times10^{-6}$. In addition, when data communication is not taking place, the designed modems provide illumination to the environment to meet the other requirements of visible light communication. Finally, the designed light-communication system proves cost-effective and easy to implement.