Multiple Access Visible Light Communication using a Single Photo-Receptor

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel VLC receiver architecture that uses a single photodiode with an LCD shutter system to enable multiple access reception from multiple transmitters, promising efficient space reuse and simplified design.

Contribution

The paper presents a new VLC receiver design with an LCD shutter that allows multiple LED transmitters to be received by a single photodiode, reducing hardware complexity.

Findings

Feasibility of multiple LED reception on a single photodiode demonstrated.

Achieved throughput of the order of Mbps.

Bit-error-rate and packet-error-rate metrics confirm reliable communication.

Abstract

The directionality of optical signals provides an opportunity for efficient space reuse of optical links in visible light communication (VLC). Space reuse in VLC can enable multiple access communication from multiple light emitting transmitters. However, traditional VLC system design using photo-receptors requires at least one receiving photodetector element for each light emitter, thus constraining VLC to always require a light emitter-to-light receiving element pair. In this paper, we propose, design and evaluate a novel architecture for VLC that can enable multiple-access reception using a photoreceptor receiver that uses only a single photodiode. The novel design includes a liquid-crystal-display (LCD) based shutter system that can be automated to control and enable selective reception of light beams from multiple transmitters. We evaluate the feasibility of multiple access on a single photodiode from two light emitting diode (LED) transmitters and the performance of the communication link using bit-error-rate (BER) and packet-error-rate (PER) metrics. Our experiment and trace based evaluation reveals the feasibility of multiple LED reception on a single photodiode and estimated throughput of the order of Mbps.