Increasing Vehicular Visible Light Communications Range Based on LED Current Overdriving and Variable Pulse Position...

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Optical Communications
• Automotive Technology

Background:

• Visible Light Communications (VLC) is increasingly integrated into vehicle safety applications due to its unique advantages.
• A key challenge for vehicular VLC systems is extending their communication range.
• Existing research often focuses on receiver improvements, leaving transmitter-side enhancements underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a novel approach for significantly enhancing the communication range of vehicular VLC systems.
• To focus on improving the VLC transmitter, rather than the receiver, to achieve greater communication distances.
• To enable vehicular VLC systems to meet the range requirements for advanced vehicle safety applications.

Main Methods:

• The study introduces a novel concept based on Light-Emitting Diode (LED) current overdriving at the transmitter.
• A modified Variable Pulse Position Modulation (VPPM) scheme is employed to manage data transmission.
• The approach ensures compliance with eye safety regulations and protects LEDs from overheating.

Main Results:

• Experimental testing confirmed the viability of the proposed concept under laboratory conditions.
• The communication range was increased by up to 370% compared to conventional methods.
• The enhancement was achieved while maintaining the same overall optical irradiance at the VLC transmitter.

Conclusions:

• The novel transmitter-based approach effectively extends the communication range of vehicular VLC systems.
• This significant range increase has the potential to fulfill the demands of communication-based vehicle safety applications.
• The exploitation of LED current overdriving and modified VPPM for vehicular VLC range extension is a novel contribution.