Visible light communication-based outdoor broadcasting

Abstract

In this paper, we explore visible light communication (VLC) as a wireless connectivity solution to enable outdoor broadcasting for public safety systems. Unlike indoor VLC broadcasting systems which build upon LED ceiling luminaries, outdoor VLC systems use ubiquitous streetlights as transmitters. Outdoor lights with specific illumination requirements have radiation patterns which differ from their indoor counterparts. In addition, the effects of weather conditions, orientation of the user equipment, and sunlight should be considered for outdoor VLC broadcasting systems. Taking into account such fundamental differences imposed by the outdoor medium and lightning infrastructure, we investigate the system performance for the links between streetlight-to-pedestrian (S2P) and streetlight-to-vehicle (S2V).