Real Time Implementation of CAP Modulation With “Better-Than-Nyquist” Pulse Shaping in Visible Light Communications

In this letter we experimentally verify a real-time implementation of the ‘better-than-Nyquist’ pulse shape in carrier-less amplitude and phase (CAP) modulation in the context of a visible light communications system. We use two National Instruments universal software radio peripherals (USRPs) as a transmitter and receiver working independently. Previously reported experimental work on pulse shaping in CAP is also verified in real time, showing lower error vector magnitudes (EVM) can be obtained at shorter filter lengths using the better-than-Nyquist pulses in place of the conventionally used square-root raised cosine as the basis function of the signal. We show that a real time EVM penalty is an additional 3% EVM in the worst case and is a result of synchronisation offset at the receiver

Filter-less WDM for visible light communications using colored pulse amplitude modulation

This paper demonstrates, for the first time, a new wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) scheme for visible light communications using multi-level coloured pulse amplitude modulation (M-CPAM). Unlike traditional WDM, no optical bandpass filters are required and only a single optical detector is used. We show that, by transmitting n independent sets of weighted on-off keying non-return-to-zero data on separate wavelengths over a line-of-sight transmission path, the resultant additive symbols can be successfully demodulated. Hence, the data rates can be aggregated for a single user or divided into individual colours for multiple user access schemes. The system is empirically tested for M = 4 and 8 using an off-the-shelf red, green and blue (RGB) chip light emitting diode (LED). We demonstrate that for M = 4, using the R and B chips a bit error rate (BER) of ≤10-6 can be achieved for each wavelength at bit rates up to 10 Mbps, limited by the LEDs under test. For M = 8 using R, G and B a BER of ≤10-6 can be achieved for each wavelength at bit rates up to 5 Mbps

Should Analogue Pre-Equalisers be Avoided in VLC Systems-

\ua9 2009-2012 IEEE.Visible light communication (VLC) systems are highly constrained by the limited 3-dB bandwidth of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Analogue pre-equalisers have been proposed to extend the LED\u27s bandwidth at the cost of reduced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Compared with the pre-equaliser, the multi-carrier modulation with bit-loading can efficiently use the spectrum beyond the LED\u27s raw 3-dB bandwidth without incuring SNR penalties by employing multiple narrow quasi-flat sub-bands to eliminate the need for equalisation. In this work we show by means of theoretical and experimental investigation that VLC with multi-band carrierless amplitude and phase modulation with bit-loading can outperform VLC with analogue pre-equalisers

On the Implementation of Carrierless Amplitude and Phase Modulation in Visible Light Communication

OAPA Carrierless amplitude and phase modulation (CAP) is one of the spectrally efficient schemes that has been proposed to tackle the limited modulation bandwidth challenge in visible light communication (VLC). The VLC technology leverages existing lighting fixtures to provide wireless data communication, which makes it attractive for many applications. However, the commercially available white LEDs that are predominantly employed in VLC offer low modulation bandwidths that limit the achievable data rate. Thus, CAP modulation is employed to improve achievable data rate, primarily due to its implementation simplicity and high spectral efficiency. The CAP scheme also has a special feature in that it can be implemented as a single band or a multiband scheme which provides design flexibility. This paper presents an in-depth study of the implementation of CAP in LED-based VLC systems, highlighting the unique features that make it specially suited for VLC applications. Furthermore, a comprehensive investigation is carried out regarding the design parameters of the CAP modulation transceiver, its benefits and techniques to mitigate the challenges of CAP-based VLC systems

Transmission Line Synthesis Approach to Extending the Bandwidth of LEDs for Visible Light Communication

This paper proposes, for the first time, a transmission line synthesis approach to extending the bandwidth of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the context of high capacity visible light communications links. As opposed to the more traditional pre-distortion, amplitude equalisation or driver circuitry based approaches, the extension in bandwidth is achieved by incorporating the LED diffusion capacitance into a pseudo-artificial transmission line (p-ATL) cell with significantly improved transmission and cut-off properties. With the proposed technique, we show the possibility of achieving close to 400% improvement in bandwidth with studies based on a verified LED equivalent model. It is envisaged that the proposed approach will enable bespoke driver circuits based on the individual characteristics of LEDs, while combination with existing bandwidth extension schemes can lead to further improvement

Visible light communication with efficient far-red/near-infrared polymer light-emitting diodes

Visible light communication (VLC) is a wireless technology that relies on optical intensity modulation and is potentially a game changer for internet-of-things (IoT) connectivity. However, VLC is hindered by the low penetration depth of visible light in non-transparent media. One solution is to extend operation into the “nearly (in)visible” near-infrared (NIR, 700–1000 nm) region, thus also enabling VLC in photonic bio-applications, considering the biological tissue NIR semitransparency, while conveniently retaining vestigial red emission to help check the link operativity by simple eye inspection. Here, we report new far-red/NIR organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with a 650–800 nm emission range and external quantum efficiencies among the highest reported in this spectral range (>2.7%, with maximum radiance and luminance of 3.5 mW/cm2 and 260 cd/m2, respectively). With these OLEDs, we then demonstrate a “real-time” VLC setup achieving a data rate of 2.2 Mb/s, which satisfies the requirements for IoT and biosensing applications. These are the highest rates ever reported for an online unequalised VLC link based on solution-processed OLEDs

Non-Orthogonal Multi-band CAP for Highly Spectrally Efficient VLC Systems

In this work we propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel non-orthogonal multi-band carrier-less amplitude and phase (NM-CAP) scheme for bandlimited visible light communication systems in order to increase the spectral efficiency. We show that a bandwidth saving up to 30% can be achieved thus resulting in 44% improvement in the measured spectral efficiency with no further bit error rate performance degradation compared to the traditional m-CAP scheme. We also show that higher order systems can provide higher bandwidth compression than low order systems. Furthermore, with no additional functional blocks at the transmitter or the receiver the proposed scheme introduces no extra computational complexity

Demonstration of a Hybrid FSO/VLC Link for the Last Mile and Last Meter Networks

OAPA In this paper, a hybrid free-space optical and visible light communication (FSO/VLC) system was experimentally demonstrated as a solution to overcome the last mile and last meter access networks bandwidth bottleneck. We evaluate the system performance of a multiband carrier-less amplitude and phase ($\textit{m}$-CAP) modulation scheme for a range of FSO/VLC link lengths and $\textit{m}$-CAP parameters (i.e., the roll-off factor of the filters and a number of subcarriers) in terms of the data rate $R_b$ (i.e., spectral efficiency). We show that for the configuration with a 1 m VLC link the \mbox{10-CAP} offers more than a 40% improvement in the measured $R_b$ compared to 2-CAP for the same bit error rate target. The $R_b$ penalty due to the extension of a VLC link span from 1 m to 3 m reaches to 12.6 Mb/s for the \mbox{10-\text{CAP}} scheme (i.e., $\sim$39% degradation in $R_b$). To fully cover all aspects of the hybrid FSO/VLC system, we also investigate the atmospheric turbulence effect on the 500 m FSO link where $R_b$ is decreased by 30% for the refractive index structure parameter $C_n^2$ of \mbox{2.4\times10^{\minus15} m^{\minus2/3}} compared to a clear channel condition

A Survey on Recent Advances in Organic Visible Light Communications

Visible light communication (VLC) employs light emitting diodes (LEDs) to provide illumination and data communications simultaneously. Organic LEDs (OLEDs) employing small molecules and long-chain polymers PLEDs, have been gaining attention within the VLC research community due to their inherent advantages such as flexible substrates and low-cost manufacturing. However, the carrier mobility of organic semiconductors is much slower than the devices composed of metal alloys, such as gallium nitride, thus leading to a restriction in the OLED modulation bandwidth. The manufacturing processes, materials and the photoactive size of the devices can affect the raw bandwidth of OLEDs. To increase the transmission speeds, novel approaches have been proposed including equalization techniques, signalling schemes and the optimum driver circuits. The paper provides a survey on the evolution of OLED-based VLC systems, and the respective challenges and recent progresses

Visible light communications: multi-band super-Nyquist CAP modulation

In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate the performance of a non-orthogonal multi-band super-Nyquist carrier-less amplitude and phase (m-SCAP) modulation for visible light communications (VLC). We break the orthogonality between sub-bands in the frequency domain by compressing the spectrum, purposely overlapping them, and introducing inter-band interference (IBI). We demonstrate that our proposed system can tolerate IBI, and hence spectral efficiency can be increased without introducing additional complexity to the receiver. We show that m-SCAP can tolerate up to 30% and 20% compression for 4- and 16-level quadrature amplitude modulation, respectively, thus leading to an improvement in spectral efficiencies up to 40% and 25%, respectively, at the cost of bit error rate performance, which however remains below the 7% forward error correction limit. Moreover, the experimental results are supported by numerical simulations