Optical Filter Design for Multi-Color VLC in Reflective Environments With Multiple Lighting Sources

Multi-color visible light communication (MC-VLC) systems, which aim to transmit data in parallel with multi-color LEDs, use optical filters to separate color channels at the receiver side. However, the relatively wide spectrum of LEDs may cause inter-color interference (ICI). In addition, the passband of the optical filters shifts towards the blue wavelength depending on the angle of incidence (AoI) of the light, which may also increase ICI. In this paper, the problem of designing optical filters for MC-VLC systems in the presence of the blue-shift is investigated. The communication environment is assumed to be a typical room illuminated by multiple fixtures in accordance with lighting standards. Moreover, the walls in the room are reflective, resulting in non-line-of-sight (NLoS) components. The passband edges of the optical filter are optimized to maximize the average signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR). The effect of the field-of-view (FOV) of the receiver on the system performance is also analyzed. Finally, a generic optical filter has been designed that can be used in standards-compliant environments for selected LEDs and a given FOV range. The results show that the designed optical filter provides a higher and uniform capacity than those in the literature.