Analysis and Experiment of Wireless Optical Communications in Applications Dedicated to Mobile Devices with Applicability in the Field of Road and Pedestrian Safety

Abstract

Current developments and the need for high-performance devices that provide safe and reliable communications present a future perspective by using visible light as an alternative solution that can substantially improve road and pedestrian safety. The daily use of smartphones is imperative; thus one can build on this premise a system dedicated to the aforementioned problem. However, the problem of the visible light communication channel (VLC) is highly dynamic and becomes extremely unpredictable in terms of exposure to noise sources. Developing applications dedicated to direct communications with infrastructure and vehicles using portable devices is becoming a challenge and at the same time a necessary solution. The article proposes the shaping of an emission–reception architecture dedicated to adaptive fuse light communications using OCC (optical camera communication) but also standard VLC communications using ambient light sensors via an Android application. This approach aims to provide a first step in shaping information-sharing applications using VLC communications. As far as we know, this approach has not been implemented in external VLC systems. The performance of the architecture and the application was demonstrated by practical tests that confirmed the capacity of the technology even if we are in the first stage.