Single-scatter path loss model of LED-based non-line-of-sight ultraviolet communications

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are popularly used as light sources in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) ultraviolet communications (UVC). However, currently reported single-scatter path loss (PL) models of NLOS UVC links assume that the radiant intensity of the light source is uniformly distributed within the beam divergence angle, which cannot well characterize the light emission pattern of LEDs. In this Letter, we propose a single-scatter PL model for LED-based NLOS UVC systems, and the corresponding analytical expression is derived by modeling the LED emission pattern as a Lambertian distribution. Monte Carlo simulations and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed PL model. Results show that the proposed model can accurately predict PL results in actual situations. The root-mean-square error of the proposed PL model is only about 1 dB in typical scenarios with experimental results as benchmarks. Also, the proposed model is much easier to implement than the currently reported PL model with the light source model of a uniformly distributed emission pattern.