Long-distance indoor optical camera communication using side-emitting fibers as distributed transmitters

Area of Science:

• Optical Engineering
• Wireless Communication Technologies
• Fiber Optics

Background:

• Optical Camera Communication (OCC) systems offer a promising wireless communication method.
• Existing OCC systems face limitations in transmission distance and reliability.
• Side-emitting fibers present an underexplored medium for distributed optical transmitters.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and demonstrate a long-distance OCC system utilizing side-emitting fibers.
• To investigate the impact of modulation frequency and camera exposure on system performance.
• To establish a reliable OCC link meeting stringent bit error rate (BER) thresholds.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel OCC system architecture employing side-emitting fibers as distributed transmitters.
• Experimental analysis of light-emitting diode (LED) modulation frequency and rolling shutter camera exposure time.
• Evaluation of inter-symbol interference (ISI) and its mitigation strategies.
• Bit error rate (BER) measurements to assess link performance against forward-error-correction (FEC) limits.

Main Results:

• Achieved a transmission distance of up to 40 meters, a two-order-of-magnitude improvement over previous works.
• Demonstrated reliable communication meeting the FEC limit (BER < 3.8 × 10⁻³) at 35m (BER = 3.35 × 10⁻³) and 40m (BER = 1.13 × 10⁻³).
• Identified optimal modulation frequencies (3.54 kHz and 5.28 kHz) and mitigation techniques for ISI.

Conclusions:

• The proposed OCC system using side-emitting fibers is feasible for long-distance communication.
• The system demonstrates high reliability suitable for moderate-distance outdoor and long-distance indoor applications.
• Results pave the way for advanced Internet of Things (IoT) and OCC applications leveraging fiber-based distributed transmitters.