Handover in Visible Light Communication systems

Author: Bui Thai Chien

Advisor: Dr. Nguyen Nam Hoang
Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications
University of Engineering and Technology

Introduction
Visible Light Communications (VLC) is a new
communications technology using visible light wavelength
between 400 THz (780 nm; 1 THz = 1000 GHz) and 800 THz
(375 nm).
General characteristics
Green communications
Security : What You See Is What You Send
Unregulated : No regulation in optical frequency
Health : Harmless for human body
Non-interference with other devices
Handover is a classic research topic. However, there are not
many papers studying handover in VLC networks since [1],
[2]. This research based on the overlapped area between two
nearby LED lamps that required for smooth handover combined
with some system constraints and communication aspects to
configure LED lamps for indoor VLC.

2
D
( H h m ax) 2v *Tp,
S handover ( H h m ax) * tan( m ax)
m3

2 2

c m ax,

2
D

(
H

h
m
ax
)
*
tan(

c
)

S
( H h m ax) 2v *Tp,
handover
m3

2 2

c m ax,

What about communication aspects?

High received power with fist reflection and Signal to
Noise Ratio are two important communication aspects in this
method.
Received power Pr is given by the channel DC gain on
directed path Hdirect(0) and reflected path Href (0) [3]:

Pr Pt * Hdirect(0) Pt * D * Href (0)

walls

Configuring LED lamps in VLC networks is much more complex

than that in normal. In this research, a regular distribution of
LED lamps is proposed since it helps uniform lighting as well as
facilitate smooth handover.

4x2 layout setting

3x2 layout setting

LEDs

Where: D is the distance between LED and a detectors surface

How to configure LEDs?

With room dimension of 8x4x3.5 (length, width, height), half

power angle of 70 degree, mobile terminal has height varies
from 0.8 m to 1.85 m, FOV angle is 70 degree and steady speed
of 2 km/h. Simulation results show that there are two layouts
setting satisfied all the system constraining factors. Those are 6
LED lamps with x =3, y=2 and 8 LED lamps with x=4, y=2.

However, the second layout setting where 8 LED lamps are

placed is showing better performance at communication
aspects in both received power and SNR. Bellow figures are
plotted at hmax to compare of this two layout settings.

By transmitting signal at different frequency for each

LED lamp. SNR can be calculated by treating inter-symbol
interference by multi-path fading is Gaussian distributed.
Subsequently, adding its power to the noise power which is
the sum of contributions from shot noise and thermal noise:
SNR

2 Pr

shot thermal PISI

2

Where is shot noise variance, thermal noise variance.

In terms of power, for each submitted symbol all signals
arriving at the receiver with a delay of more than half of the
symbol period Tsym after the first signal contribute to ISI
[4]:

Max: 1465lx, Min:369lx, Average: 1033lx

Max: 1775lx, Min:522lx, Average: 1358lx

The distributed of illumination at hmax of both LED lamp layouts

PISI Pr(tiTsym/ 2)
i

PSignal Pr(ti Tsym/ 2)

i

Other system constraints

Illumination standard

How to have smooth handover?

For smooth handover, the overlapped must be large enough to
allow handover to occur correctly and preventing the pingpong effect of repeated handovers at marginal areas.

Following the International Organization for Standardization

(ISO), the illuminance needs to be within a range of 300 lx to
1500 lx for indoor office room.
Field of View angle
FOV is defined as the full acceptance angle at the receiver
The smaller FOV angle is, the more number of LED lamps
must be installed
The larger value of h is, the more number of LED lamps
must be mounted

Max: 4.5dB, Min:-1.9dB, Average:3.0dB

Max: 5.41 dB, Min: -0.44 dB, Average:4.2 dB

The distributed of received power at hmax with first

reflection of both LED lamp layouts

Max: 57.8 dB, Min:23.1dB, Average:33.1dB

Technically, required overlapped area includes:

- Overlapped area to start handover execution: Smargin
- Overlapped area for handover successfully: Sdelay
S margin is the width of the horizontal cross-sections at hmax
of the overlapped area that needs to make handover get starts.
For the handover threshold equal to 3dB as comparing to RF
communication, S margin distance is given as:

2
D
( H h max) ,c max,
S m argin ( H h max) * tan( max)
m3

2 2

2
D

S
m argin ( H h max) * tan(c )
(
H

h
max) ,c max,

m3

2 2

Where is the half power angle of LED lamp, m is the order

of Lambertian emission m ln 2 / ln(cos( m ax)) , c is Field of
View angle.
max

Sdelay is the overlapped area needed to handover successfully

and correctly.
It is calculated by using handover delay Tp. With velocity of v
(m/s) the overlapped area required for smooth handover is
given by:

Poster template by ResearchPosters.co.za

Max: 59.5 dB, Min:24.9 dB, Average:33.58 dB

The distributed of SNR at hmax of both LED lamp layouts

Conclusions

At hmax and FOV = c then the LED lamp spacing of the

cross r1 must be satisfied following equation:

r1 2(H - hmax)tan(c)

Simulation program and results

We have designed the overlapped area among LED lamps that

supports smooth handover by using handover threshold and
handover delay, comparing to RF communication.
We also have proposed a method to configuring LED lamps for
indoor Visible Light communication. based on the overlapped
area required for smooth handover, SNR, received power and
other constraint factors. This method has not only guarantee the
illumination but also high quality of communication with
smooth handover.

This configuration method can described by simulation results

Length of room
Width of room
Height of room
Half power angle
FOV angle
Steady speed of user
Handover delay
Maximum height of user
Minimum height of user
No. of LED chip per LED lamp

8 (m)
8 (m)
3.5 (m)
70 degree
70 degree
20/36 (m/s)
0.15 (s)
1.85 (m)
0.8 (m)
60

References
[1] Tuan nguyen et al A pre-scanning-based link switching scheme in
visible light communication networks Ubiquitous and Future Network,
pp 366 369, July 2013
[2] A. M. Vegni et al, Handover in VLC Systems with Cooperating
Mobile Devices, In Proc. of International Conference on Computing,
Networking and Communications, pp. 126-130, Jan.-Feb., 2012.
[3] T. Komine et al, Fundamental analysis for visible - light
communication system using LED lights, IEEE Transactions on

Consumer Electronics, 50, 100107, 2004

[10] Trong-Hop Do el at, Analysis of the effects of LED direction on the
performance of visible light communication system", Photon Netw
Commun, pp 60-72, Vol 25, Feb 2013.