A robust pre-coding and hybrid equalization assisted MIMO-MU visible light communication system for QoS centric indoor communication

Recently, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) has been proposed in visible light communications (VLC) systems to boost the data rate by utilizing spatial multiplexing. Unlike RF systems in VLC, lighting requirements, such as dimming control, should be taken into consideration for the design of a VLC transceiver. Moreover, VLC systems are inherently nonlinear and dynamic-range-limited. To drive an LED transmitter, the signal is bounded by a turn-on value and a saturation value. In this letter, we show how the dynamic-range constraint and dimming control impact the design of MIMO transceiver. Three different MIMO schemes are proposed and studied by theoretical analysis and simulation.

In general, visible light communication (VLC) systems, which utilise white light-emitting diodes (LEDs), only offer a bandwidth limited to the lower MHz region. Therefore, providing VLC-based high data rate communications systems using VLC becomes a challenging task. To address this challenge, we propose a solution based on multiplexing in both the frequency and space domains. We experimentally demonstrate a 4 × 4 imaging multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) VLC system (i.e., space multiplexing) utilising multiband carrierless amplitude and phase (m-CAP) modulation (i.e., frequency multiplexing). Independently, both MIMO and m-CAP have separately shown the remarkable ability to improve the transmission speeds in VLC systems, and hence, here we combine them to further improve the net data rate. We investigate the link performance by varying the number of subcarriers m, link distance L, and signal bandwidth B <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">sig</sub> . From all the values tested, we show that a data rate of ~249 Mb/s can be maximally achieved for m = 20, B <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">sig</sub> = 20 MHz, and L = 1 m, at a bit error rate of 3.2 × 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-3</sup> using LEDs with ~4 MHz bandwidth.

Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) is a major scenario in the prospective fifth generation (5G) wireless communications. Achieving high user experienced data rate (UEDR) is one of vital goals of eMBB, which needs to consume massive bandwidth. Considering the limited radio frequency (RF) spectrum resource has got heavily congested, we explore the multi-packet reception (MPR) aided visible light communications (VLCs) system to support eMBB services in this paper. MPR can efficiently alleviate collisions for VLC system and enhance UEDR. However, the implementation of MPR in random access system is challenging because of dynamic and unpredictable transmissions of eMBB terminals. For fully utilizing MPR capability and promoting UEDR maximally, we design a two-period frame structure including the access request period (ARP) and the data transmission period (DTP). UEDR emphasizes not only the data rate measured in physical layer but also the network operation behaviour experienced by users which connects closely with quality of service (QoS). In this paper, effective capacity (EC) is employed to depict UEDRs for eMBB terminals for the first time, which provides an efficient link model to evaluate data rates with consideration of statistical delay QoS. Then, the aggregate UEDR is derived and defined as a system metric, which reflects the transmission features of both two periods. We formulate the hybrid access algorithm for eMBB terminals with heterogeneous QoS requirements as an aggregate UEDR maximization problem and find the optimum access probability (for ARP) and optimal resource allocation strategy (for DTP) via the particle swarm optimization-initialization intervention (PSO-II) algorithm.

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique is now used in most new broadband communication system, and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is also utilized within current 4^th generation (4G) of mobile telecommunication technology. With MIMO and OFDM combined, visible light communication (VLC) system’s diversity gain is increase, yet system capacity for dispersive channels is also enhanced. Moreover, with the emerging massive MIMO-OFDM VLC system, there are significant advantages than smaller systems’ such as channel hardening, further increasing of energy efficiency (EE) and spectral efficiency (SE) based on law of large number. This paper addresses one of the major technological challenges, system architecture design, which was solved by semispherical beehive structure (SBS) receiver and so that diversity gain can be identified and applied in Massive MIMO VLC system. Simulation results shows that the proposed design clearly presents a spatial diversity over conventional VLC systems.

• Core Innovation & Objective • Developed a novel, integrated system architecture combining a modified USRP X310 software-defined radio platform with a custom-designed high-power LED optical transceiver. • Achieved high-speed, low-latency, and highly reliable audio-video transmission over Visible Light Communication (VLC) for intelligent transportation and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) applications, particularly in electromagnetically sensitive environments. • Key Technical Breakthroughs • LED Bandwidth Extension: Designed an innovative active pre-equalization circuit (based on a 4th-order high-pass RC bypass and op-amps) that dramatically increased the 3dB modulation bandwidth of a commercial 15W LED from 3 MHz to 120 MHz. • High-Speed Modulation: Successfully implemented 64QAM-OFDM modulation/demodulation using GNU Radio on the USRP, enabling spectrally efficient data transmission. • Advanced Optical Design: Custom-designed optical lenses (transmitter and receiver) and a high-power Bias-T circuit for efficient AC/DC coupling, ensuring the LED operates in its linear region and maximizing optical power transfer. • Stable Link Performance: Incorporated an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit at the receiver, stabilizing the output voltage between 1.2V - 2.0V and maintaining a modulation signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) > 23 dB over varying distances. • Outstanding System Performance • The experimentally demonstrated performance metrics are exceptional for a VLC system: • Peak Data Rate: 500 Mbps • Communication Distance: 0 - 110 meters • Bit Error Rate (BER): As low as 1.74 × 10⁻⁵ (far below the 1 × 10⁻⁴ target) • End-to-End Latency: < 0.1 s • Beam Angle: 11.5° (Transmitter) • Field of View (FOV): ≤ 18° (Receiver) • System Integration and Design • Hardware-Software Co-Design: Seamless integration of the USRP X310 (handling digital baseband processing) with the custom analog optical front-end. • Compact and Practical: The system is designed for external mounting on vehicles, offering a practical solution for real-world deployment. • Simulation-Guided Design: Used LightTools for optical design and Optisystem for communication link simulation to validate the design before implementation. • Significance and Application Value • Solves Critical Challenges: Provides a high-speed, secure, and EMI-free communication alternative to traditional RF in environments like military operations, petroleum facilities, and intelligent transportation systems. • 6G Potential: Serves as a practical reference for the development of VLC as a complementary technology in 6G networks. • Demonstrates Feasibility: Successfully proves the viability of using commercial LEDs and USRP platforms for building high-performance, medium-to-long-range optical communication systems. • This work represents a significant step forward in practical high-speed VLC system design, combining theoretical innovation with robust engineering to achieve state-of-the-art performance. Existing vehicular VLC systems suffer from limited bandwidth, short transmission distances, low data rates, and support only a narrow range of communication services. To address these issues, this paper proposes a vehicle-mounted high-speed LED visible light communication (VLC) system based on Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP). Leveraging 64QAM-OFDM digital modulation, an improved USRP X310 hardware platform, and a PC, we establish a novel architecture comprising digital baseband and optical transceiver modules. The baseband module eliminates traditional spectrum-shifting circuits and antennas, retaining only FPGA and ADC/DAC units. Audio/video files undergo 64QAM-OFDM modulation directly on the PC, with modulated signals output via DAC to a custom-designed wide-bandwidth LED transceiver. A broadband hardware equalization network based on a fourth-order RC bypass circuit was designed expands the 3dB bandwidth of high-power LEDs from 3 MHz to 120 MHz. Combined with automatic gain control (AGC), this achieves an optical transceiver with 12–15 W output power, >23 dB optical modulation signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and stable receiver output voltage (1.2–2.0 V). The resulting compact system delivers low latency, high data rates, and high reliability. Under aligned optical path conditions, the system achieves >1 Mbit/s at 110 m (BER 0.49 × 10⁻⁵, delay 0.009-0.05s) and a peak rate of 500 Mbit/s at 10 m (BER 7.4 × 10⁻⁵), with an 11.5° transmit angle and a receiver field of view (FOV) of less than 18°. This work demonstrates the feasibility of high-power LED-based 64QAM-OFDM communication using USRP X310 for medium- to long-range vehicular links, providing a reference for intelligent transportation systems.

While the traditional Visible Light Communication (VLC) system has attracted a lot of research attentions on boosting throughput, using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) devices, e.g. existing cameras on the smartphones, is a recent trend to implement readily deployable VLC systems. In particular, since LED-Camera VLC systems have shown a promising potential in large indoor communication due to the growing deployment of LED lighting infrastructure, a comprehensive VLC system with cooperative transmission and roaming support has become an impending need. To this end, we propose a novel VLC and visible light sensing (VLS) system to address that by leveraging LED sensing and effective encoding/decoding schemes. It is achieved first by utilizing LED sensing via converting parts of LED luminaire into light sensors to detect diffuse reflection change caused by presence of the user. After the users are detected and located, the system employs rateless codes and newly designed code assignment scheme to collaboratively transmit to detected users in their communication cells. We believe the proposed system has the potential to a roaming support VLC system in the whole building or indoor areas.

Power control technology is necessary in Visible Light Communication (VLC) systems because of the multipath distortion and shadowing. When a power control algorithm is applied to the system, feedback error is inevitable. In this paper, we analyze the closed-loop power control algorithm and the influence of the power control error (PCE) in VLC systems. To analyze the effect of the PCE in VLC systems, the proposed system is studied with different modulation schemes and coding rates in terms of BER.

The enhanced proliferation of connected entities needs a deployment of innovative technologies for the next generation wireless networks. One of the critical concerns, however, is the spectrum scarcity, due to the unprecedented broadcast penetration rate nowadays. Based on this, visible light communication (VLC) has recently emerged as a viable solution to secure high-speed communications. VLC, a high data rate communication technology, has proven its stature as a promising complementary to its radio frequency (RF) counterpart. VLC is a cost-effective, energy-efficient, and secure technology that exploits the current infrastructure, specifically within indoor and underwater environments. Yet, despite their appealing capabilities, VLC systems face several limitations which constraint their potentials such as LED’s limited bandwidth, dimming, flickering, line-of-sight (LOS) requirement, impact of harsh weather conditions, noise, interference, shadowing, transceiver alignment, signal decoding complexity, and mobility issue. Consequently, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) has been considered an effective technique to circumvent these shortcomings. The NOMA scheme has emerged as a revolutionary paradigm to address the shortcomings of VLC systems. The potentials of NOMA are to increase the number of users, system’s capacity, massive connectivity, and enhance the spectrum and energy efficiency in future communication scenarios. Motivated by this, the presented study offers an overview of NOMA-based VLC systems. This article provides a broad scope of existing research activities of NOMA-based VLC systems. This article aims to provide firsthand knowledge of the prominence of NOMA and VLC and surveys several NOMA-enabled VLC systems. We briefly highlight the potential and capabilities of NOMA-based VLC systems. In addition, we outline the integration of such systems with several emerging technologies such as intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Furthermore, we focus on NOMA-based hybrid RF/VLC networks and discuss the role of machine learning (ML) tools and physical layer security (PLS) in this domain. In addition, this study also highlights diverse and significant technical hindrances prevailing in NOMA-based VLC systems. We highlight future research directions, along with provided insights that are envisioned to be helpful towards the effective practical deployment of such systems. In a nutshell, this review highlights the existing and ongoing research activities for NOMA-based VLC systems, which will provide sufficient guidelines for research communities working in this domain and it will pave the way for successful deployment of these systems.

SummaryWith the development of new generation lighting sources, visible light communication (VLC) system has become a complementary solution to traditional radio frequency wireless system. However, the error performance of VLC system is degraded because of multipath effects and interference from other lighting sources that, in turn, reduce the communication range. This work targets the issue of performance degradation of VLC systems in terms of communication range and demonstrates a VLC system design that utilizes forward error correction (FEC) codes as the main tool to fix this issue. Furthermore, the work also covers practical implementation of the proposed VLC system using UART modules programmed in MATLAB. The hardware results demonstrate that the communication range of the proposed VLC system is enhanced up to 0.5 m. Over and above, it is also shown through simulations that the coding gain of the proposed design is more when compared with existing VLC system(s).

This paper analyzes the performance of a dual-hop hybrid radio frequency - visible light communications (VLCs) system. VLC exploits high frequencies for signal propagation for short-range and is highly susceptible to blockages. Hence, in this work, the sensitivity of the VLC toward the blockages is explored. This study examines outdoor-indoor communication for an urban scenario featuring an office environment. The VLC system is designed by considering multiple VLC access points serving the end users in the presence of human blockages. Selection combining is employed to select the access point which offers the maximum instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio at the user. To capture the outdoor scenario, path loss modeling is conducted to account for signal attenuation from outdoor to indoor spaces. The outdoor scenario is modeled using Nakagami-m fading channels while VLC is employed for the indoor scenario. System performance is assessed in closed-form expression for outage probability and the symbol error rate for binary phase shift keying and quadrature amplitude modulation. A deep learning-based approach detects the symbols by tracking dynamic changes in the channel. Simulation results corroborate the correctness of derived analytical expressions and reveal that blockages significantly impact both single and multiple LED based communication channels.

Visible light communication (VLC) system based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is promising for its ability to link a huge number of devices with high reliability and low latency. However, OFDM-based VLC systems are very sensitive to the symbol timing offsets. Thus, synchronisation algorithm is very important for OFDM-based VLC system. In this study, the authors first propose zero correlation code pair (ZCC pair) and investigate the periodical impulse-shaped correlation property of ZCC pair. Then the authors propose a novel timing offset estimation algorithm based on ZCC pair. The preamble is processed via peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction algorithms to overcome the PAPR problem in VLC systems. This algorithm achieves high accuracy and has low synchronisation error probability. The effectiveness of the authors' proposed algorithm has been demonstrated using computer simulation under non-light-of-sight VLC and Gaussian channels. The results show that the authors' algorithm outperforms the Schmidl Cox's and Park's algorithms in terms of synchronisation error probability and mean square error of timing error.

Since indoor visible light communication (VLC) systems can offer several potential advantages over their radio frequency and infrared counterparts, there has been a growing interest in VLC systems. Influenced by the complicated optical propagation environment, multipath effect existed which may result in intersymbol interference (ISI). Therefore, the bit error ratio (BER) performance is degraded excessively due to the effects of ISI. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of a nonlinear MAP (maximum a-posteriori probability) equalizer in indoor VLC environment. Moreover, Forward error correction (FEC) coding and interleaving is used. It will be shown that MAP equalization is well behaved in VLC systems. Besides, the systems with encoder and interleaver provide notable performance gain at the expense of higher computational complexity.

Smart city planners pay more attention towards visible light communication (VLC) system to achieve seamless high speed connectivity. A light emitting diode (LED) acts as a transmitter in VLC system. However, the nonlinear characteristics and dimming nature of LED limits the performance of the VLC system by degrading the quality of transmitted signal. In this paper, we propose an adaptive-learning-architecture (ALA) based predistortion technique to estimate and compensate for LED nonlinearities as well as increase the spectral efficiency of a VLC system. A DC-biased optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DCO-OFDM) signal is considered. The performance with and without predistorter is analysed assuming optical line-of-sight (LOS) channel. It is shown that degradation due to LED nonlinearity can be compensated by using ALA-based predistortion, and the overall Predistorter-LED system is able to approach near-linear performance. Further, we investigate the impact of dimming on the performance of nonlinear LED in VLC system. Simulation results based on symbol error rate (SER), amplitude distortion (AM/AM) curves and constellation plots validate the performance of our proposed technique.

Cross-layer analysis has been gaining an increasing attention as a powerful tool to study and assess different quality-of-service (QoS) mechanisms in wireless networks. Regarding the physical and data-link layers, in this paper we provide a cross-layer study for visible light communication (VLC) systems operating under statistical QoS constraints, which are inflicted as limits on the delay violation and buffer overflow probabilities. We assume that the VLC access point (AP) is unaware of the channel conditions, thus the AP sends the data at a fixed rate. Under this assumption, and considering an ON-OFF data source, we employ the maximum average data arrival rate at the AP buffer and the non-asymptotic bounds on buffering delay as the main performance measures. Through numerical results, we illustrate the impacts of different physical and data-link parameters on the system performance.

This paper proposes an asymmetric frequency shift keying (AFSK) modulation technique for visible light communications (VLC) systems. AFSK is derived from the normal FSK in response to the non-negative aspect of VLC technology. AFSK provides VLC systems with a low cost and low complexity modulation technique that mitigates flickering and dimming for both square and rectified sine waves signals. The binary version of AFSK is analyzed and a general expression is proposed to its carrier frequency based on the original FSK. Simulated results of selected AFSK constellation sizes which perform better than on-off keying are presented. We also present M-ary FSK (MFSK) modulation in the VLC channel.