Multi-cell deployment for experimental research in visible light communication-based internet of things

Abstract

Visible Light Communication (VLC) provides both illumination and communication thanks to the usage of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs). In order to support the research in the field, the study of possible infrastructures to enable constant illumination and reliable communication becomes a necessity to pair up the evolution of both fields. Leveraging the fact that LEDs are getting more densely deployed to provide uniform illumination, in this work we present the design of a multi-cell deployment that uses several LEDs as VLC Access Points (APs) for Internet of Things (IoT) applications. We characterize the light emitted by the selected LED and show how this deployment complies with the illumination standards, as well as providing a reliable communication network. We present our design choices for controlling and communicating to the network of VLC APs, and show the required functionalities that must be fulfilled such as power monitoring, power management, and communication management.