Visible Light Optical Camera Communication for Electroencephalography Applications

Due to the cable-free deployment and flexibility of wireless communications, the data transmission in the applications of home and healthcare has shown a trend of moving wired communications to wireless communications. One typical example is electroencephalography (EEG). Evolution in the radio frequency (RF) technology has made it is possible to transmit the EEG data without data cable bundles. However, presently, the RF-based wireless technology used in EEG suffers from electromagnetic interference and might also have adverse effects on the health of patient and other medical equipment used in hospitals or homes. This puts some limits in RF-based EEG solutions, which is particularly true in RF restricted zones like Intensive Care Units (ICUs). As a recently developed optical wireless communication (OWC) technology, visible light communication (VLC) using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for both simultaneous illumination and data communication has shown its advantages of free from electromagnetic interference, potential huge unlicensed bandwidth and enhanced data privacy due to the line transmission of light. The most recent development of VLC is the optical camera communication (OCC), which is an extension of VLC IEEE standard 802.15.7, also referred to as visible light optical camera communication (VL-OCC). Different from the conventional VLC where traditional photodiodes are used to detect and receive the data, VL-OCC uses the imaging camera as the photodetector to receive the data in the form of visible light signals. The data rate requirement of EEG is dependent on the application; hence this thesis investigates a low cost, organic LED (OLED)-driven VL-OCC wireless data transmission system for EEG applications

Enhancing Indoor Localisation: a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) Beacon Placement approach

Indoor location-based services have become increasingly vital in various sectors, including industries, healthcare, airports, and crowded infrastructures, facilitating asset tracking and user navigation. This project addresses the critical challenge of optimising beacon placement for indoor location, employing Bluetooth technology as the communication protocol. The significance of this research lies in the effi ciency and accuracy that an optimised beacon layout can provide, enhancing the effectiveness of indoor positioning systems. The algorithm developed takes into con sideration materials attenuation, coverage and Line of Sight (LOS) conditions to optimise its layouts. Experimental validation of the algorithm’s performance was conducted by comparing two beacon layouts: one optimised by the algorithm and the other manually arranged by individuals with empirical knowledge in the field. The experiment considered three distinct positions within the schematic, allowing for a comprehensive assessment of the optimised layout’s superior performance. The results of this research offer insights into the potential of the algorithm to revolu tionise indoor location services, providing a more reliable and cost-effective solution for a multitude of applications.Os serviços de localização em ambientes internos tornaram-se cada vez mais essenciais em vários setores, incluindo indústrias, cuidados de saúde, aeroportos e infraestruturas movimentadas, facilitando o rastreamento de objetos e a navegação de utilizadores. Este projeto aborda o desafio crítico da otimização da colocação de beacons para localização em ambientes internos, utilizando a tecnologia Bluetooth como protocolo de comunicação. A importância desta pesquisa reside na eficiência e precisão que uma disposição otimizada de beacons pode proporcionar, melhorando a eficácia de sistemas de posicionamento em ambientes internos. O algoritmo desenvolvido leva em consideração a atenuação de materiais, a cobertura e as condições de visão direta para otimizar as suas disposições. A validação experimental do desempenho do algoritmo foi realizada ao comparar duas disposições de beacons: uma otimizada pelo algoritmo e outra organizada manualmente por indivíduos com conhecimento empírico na área. A experiência considerou três posições distintas no esquema, permitindo uma avaliação abrangente do desempenho superior da disposição otimizada. Os resultados desta pesquisa oferecem descobertas importantes sobre o potencial do algoritmo para revolucionar os serviços de localização em ambientes internos, proporcionando uma solução mais confiável e econômica para uma variedade de aplicações

A review of smartphones based indoor positioning: challenges and applications

The continual proliferation of mobile devices has encouraged much effort in using the smartphones for indoor positioning. This article is dedicated to review the most recent and interesting smartphones based indoor navigation systems, ranging from electromagnetic to inertia to visible light ones, with an emphasis on their unique challenges and potential real-world applications. A taxonomy of smartphones sensors will be introduced, which serves as the basis to categorise different positioning systems for reviewing. A set of criteria to be used for the evaluation purpose will be devised. For each sensor category, the most recent, interesting and practical systems will be examined, with detailed discussion on the open research questions for the academics, and the practicality for the potential clients

A Prospective Look: Key Enabling Technologies, Applications and Open Research Topics in 6G Networks

The fifth generation (5G) mobile networks are envisaged to enable a plethora of breakthrough advancements in wireless technologies, providing support of a diverse set of services over a single platform. While the deployment of 5G systems is scaling up globally, it is time to look ahead for beyond 5G systems. This is driven by the emerging societal trends, calling for fully automated systems and intelligent services supported by extended reality and haptics communications. To accommodate the stringent requirements of their prospective applications, which are data-driven and defined by extremely low-latency, ultra-reliable, fast and seamless wireless connectivity, research initiatives are currently focusing on a progressive roadmap towards the sixth generation (6G) networks. In this article, we shed light on some of the major enabling technologies for 6G, which are expected to revolutionize the fundamental architectures of cellular networks and provide multiple homogeneous artificial intelligence-empowered services, including distributed communications, control, computing, sensing, and energy, from its core to its end nodes. Particularly, this paper aims to answer several 6G framework related questions: What are the driving forces for the development of 6G? How will the enabling technologies of 6G differ from those in 5G? What kind of applications and interactions will they support which would not be supported by 5G? We address these questions by presenting a profound study of the 6G vision and outlining five of its disruptive technologies, i.e., terahertz communications, programmable metasurfaces, drone-based communications, backscatter communications and tactile internet, as well as their potential applications. Then, by leveraging the state-of-the-art literature surveyed for each technology, we discuss their requirements, key challenges, and open research problems

A prospective look: key enabling technologies, applications and open research topics in 6G networks

The fifth generation (5G) mobile networks are envisaged to enable a plethora of breakthrough advancements in wireless technologies, providing support of a diverse set of services over a single platform. While the deployment of 5G systems is scaling up globally, it is time to look ahead for beyond 5G systems. This is mainly driven by the emerging societal trends, calling for fully automated systems and intelligent services supported by extended reality and haptics communications. To accommodate the stringent requirements of their prospective applications, which are data-driven and defined by extremely low-latency, ultra-reliable, fast and seamless wireless connectivity, research initiatives are currently focusing on a progressive roadmap towards the sixth generation (6G) networks, which are expected to bring transformative changes to this premise. In this article, we shed light on some of the major enabling technologies for 6G, which are expected to revolutionize the fundamental architectures of cellular networks and provide multiple homogeneous artificial intelligence-empowered services, including distributed communications, control, computing, sensing, and energy, from its core to its end nodes. In particular, the present paper aims to answer several 6G framework related questions: What are the driving forces for the development of 6G? How will the enabling technologies of 6G differ from those in 5G? What kind of applications and interactions will they support which would not be supported by 5G? We address these questions by presenting a comprehensive study of the 6G vision and outlining seven of its disruptive technologies, i.e., mmWave communications, terahertz communications, optical wireless communications, programmable metasurfaces, drone-based communications, backscatter communications and tactile internet, as well as their potential applications. Then, by leveraging the state-of-the-art literature surveyed for each technology, we discuss the associated requirements, key challenges, and open research problems. These discussions are thereafter used to open up the horizon for future research directions