Multi-Element Transmitter Design and Performance Evaluation for Visible Light Communication

Visible light communication (VLC) systems have significant potential for enabling broadband data rates by relying on existing lighting infrastructure. In this paper, we investigate the performance of multi-element VLC transmitter architecture for different transmitter configurations. In particular, we consider multi- element transmitters with three, seven, and nineteen light emitting diodes (LEDs). For a fixed number of LEDs installed in a room, we evaluate the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) distributions across the room considering different transmitter geometries and a multipath VLC environment. Illumination distributions in the room are also generated for different configurations, and performance trade-offs for different transmitter architectures are investigated. Impact of transmit power at the LEDs and field of view at VLC receivers on the SINR performance are explored. Simulation results show that transmitter configuration with three LED gives the best performance for simultaneously achieving good illumination and SINR distribution under different circumstances.