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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Communications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 31947

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Alin-Mihai Cailean

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, Universitatea Stefan cel Mare din Suceava, Suceava, Romania
Interests: visible light communications; vehicle safety; intelligent vehicles; inter-vehicle communication systems; wireless sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of an increasing concern toward road safety, the usage of wireless communication technologies to enable inter-vehicle communications (I2V/V2V/V2X), inter-vehicle distance determination, or vehicle localization services is considered to contribute significantly to a safer road network. In this area, visible light communications (VLC) appear to be a straightforward solution able to provide numerous technical and financial advantages.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to contribute to the state of the art in the automotive VLC area. Thus, this Special Issue focuses on the usage of VLC technology in transportation applications. Therefore, we encourage potential authors to submit original research, developments, experimental works, and new automotive VLC applications. Surveys papers are very welcomed as well. Expected topics include but are not limited to the following:

Infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications;
Advanced automotive VLC systems and architectures;
Vehicle navigation and localization based on VLC systems;
VLC-based cooperative driving and driver assisting systems based on VLC;
Advanced driver assistance systems using VLC;
Automotive VLC systems vulnerabilities, challenges, and perspectives;
Emergent automotive VLC applications;
New trends and concepts in VLC systems development;
Hybrid vehicular communications using VLC;
Noise mitigation techniques in automotive VLC systems;
Visible light-based ranging and distance determination;
Vehicle visible light localization systems and methods;
Software-defined automotive VLC systems;
Vehicular optical channel modeling, analysis and characterization;
Vehicle mobility effect in VLC applications;
In-vehicle visible light communications systems and applications.

Dr. Alin-Mihai Cailean
Guest Editor

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Keywords

accident prevention
communication-based vehicle safety applications
I2V
infrastructure-to-vehicle communications
inter-vehicle communications
V2V
V2X
vehicular VLC channel
vehicle-to-vehicle communications
vehicle safety
vehicular communications
visible light communications

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1282 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Hybrid Handover Scheme for Vehicular VLC/RF Communication Networks

by Linqiong Jia, Shicheng Feng, Yijin Zhang and Jin-Yuan Wang

Sensors 2024, 24(13), 4323; https://doi.org/10.3390/s24134323 - 3 Jul 2024

Viewed by 932

Abstract

Visible light communication (VLC) is a promising complementary technology to its radio frequency (RF) counterpart to satisfy the high quality-of-service (QoS) requirements of intelligent vehicular communications by reusing LED street lights. In this paper, a hybrid handover scheme for vehicular VLC/RF communication networks is proposed to balance QoS and handover costs by considering the vertical handover and horizontal handover together judging from the mobile state of the vehicle. A Markov decision process (MDP) is formulated to describe this hybrid handover problem, with a cost function balancing the handover consumption, delay, and reliability. A value iteration algorithm was applied to solve the optimal handover policy. The simulation results demonstrated the performance of the proposed hybrid handover scheme in comparison to other benchmark schemes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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20 pages, 6571 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Demonstration of a Visible Light Communications System Based on Binary Frequency-Shift Keying Modulation: A New Step toward Improved Noise Resilience

by Cătălin Beguni, Adrian Done, Alin-Mihai Căilean, Sebastian-Andrei Avătămăniței and Eduard Zadobrischi

Sensors 2023, 23(11), 5001; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23115001 - 23 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1924

Abstract

Visible light communications (VLC) are an emerging technology that is increasingly demonstrating its ability to provide wireless communications in areas where radio frequency (RF) technology might have some limitations. Therefore, VLC systems offer possible answers to various applications in outdoor conditions, such as in the road traffic safety domain, or even inside large buildings, such as in indoor positioning applications for blind people. Nevertheless, several challenges must still be addressed in order to obtain a fully reliable solution. One of the most important challenges is focused on further improving the immunity to optical noise. Different from most works, where on–off keying (OOK) modulation and Manchester coding have been the preferred choices, this article proposes a prototype based on a binary frequency-shift keying (BFSK) modulation and non-return-to-zero (NRZ) coding, for which the resilience to noise is compared to that of a standard OOK VLC system. The experimental results showed an optical noise resilience improvement of 25% in direct exposure to incandescent light sources. The VLC system using BFSK modulation was able to maintain a maximum noise irradiance of 3500 µW/cm² as compared with 2800 µW/cm² for the OOK modulation, and an improvement of almost 20% in indirect exposure to the incandescent light sources. The VLC system with BFSK modulation was able to maintain the active link in an equivalent maximum noise irradiance of 65,000 µW/cm², as opposed to the equivalent 54,000 µW/cm² for the OOK modulation. Based on these results, one can see that based on a proper system design, VLC systems are able to provide impressive resilience to optical noise. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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23 pages, 4963 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Addressing Multi-User Interference in Vehicular Visible Light Communications: A Brief Survey and an Evaluation of Optical CDMA MAC Utilization in a Multi-Lane Scenario

by Emmanuel Plascencia, Hongyu Guan, Luc Chassagne, Alin-Mihai Căilean, Olivier Barrois and Oyunchimeg Shagdar

Sensors 2023, 23(8), 3831; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23083831 - 8 Apr 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2081

Abstract

Visible Light Communications (VLC) are developing as an omnipresent solution for inter-vehicle communications. Based on intensive research efforts, the performance of vehicular VLC systems has significantly improved in terms of noise resilience, communication range, and latencies. Nevertheless, in order to be ready for deployment in real applications, solutions for Medium Access Control (MAC) are also required. In this context, this article provides an intensive evaluation of several optical CDMA MAC solutions and of their efficiency in mitigating the effect of Multiple User Interference (MUI). Intensive simulation results showed that an adequately designed MAC layer can significantly reduce the effects of MUI, ensuring an adequate Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR). The simulation results showed that based on the use of optical CDMA codes, the PDR can be improved from values as low as 20% up to values between 93.2% and 100%. Consequently, the results provided in this article show the high potential of optical CDMA MAC solutions in vehicular VLC applications, reconfirm the high potential of the VLC technology in inter-vehicle communications, and emphasize the need to further develop MAC solutions designed for such applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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16 pages, 3092 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Increasing Vehicular Visible Light Communications Range Based on LED Current Overdriving and Variable Pulse Position Modulation: Concept and Experimental Validation

by Cătălin Beguni, Alin-Mihai Căilean, Sebastian-Andrei Avătămăniței, Alin-Dan Potorac, Eduard Zadobrischi and Mihai Dimian

Sensors 2023, 23(7), 3656; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23073656 - 31 Mar 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1970

Abstract

Due to its unique advantages, the integration of Visible Light Communications (VLC) in vehicle safety applications has become a major research topic. Nevertheless, as this is an emergent technology, several challenges must be addressed. One of the most important of these challenges is oriented toward increasing vehicular VLC systems’ communication range. In this context, this article proposes a novel approach that provides a significant communication distance enhancement. Different from most existing works on this topic, which are based on refining the VLC receiver, this new article is focused on improving the VLC system based on the benefits that can be achieved through the VLC transmitter. The concept is based on Light-Emitting Diode (LED) current overdriving and a modified Variable Pulse Position Modulation (VPPM). Therefore, LED current overdriving provides the VLC receiver higher instantaneous received optical power and improved Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), whereas the use of the VPPM ensures that the VLC transmitter respects eye regulation norms and offers LED protection against overheating. The concept has been experimentally tested in laboratory conditions. The experimental results confirmed the viability of the concept, showing an increase of the communication range by up to 370%, while maintaining the same overall optical irradiance at the VLC transmitter level. Therefore, this new approach has the potential to enable vehicular VLC ranges that cover the requirements of communication-based vehicle safety applications. To the best of our knowledge, this concept has not been previously exploited in vehicular VLC applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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19 pages, 6059 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Comprehensive Investigation on Multi-User Interference Effects in Vehicular Visible Light Communications

by Emmanuel Plascencia, Hongyu Guan, Luc Chassagne, Olivier Barrois, Oyunchimeg Shagdar and Alin-Mihai Căilean

Sensors 2023, 23(5), 2553; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23052553 - 24 Feb 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2232

Abstract

Vehicular visible light communications (VLC) are considered a suitable technology for vehicular platooning applications. Nevertheless, this domain imposes strict performance requirements. Although numerous works have shown that VLC technology is compatible with platooning applications, existing studies are mainly focused on the physical layer performances, mostly ignoring the disruptive effects generated by neighboring vehicular VLC links. Nevertheless, the 5.9 GHz Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) experience has shown that mutual interference can significantly affect the packed delivery ratio, pointing out that these effects should be analyzed for vehicular VLC networks as well. In this context, this article provides a comprehensive investigation focused on the effects of mutual interference generated by neighboring vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) VLC links. Therefore, this work provides an intensive analytical investigation based on simulation and also on experimental results that demonstrate that although ignored, the influence of mutual interference is highly disruptive in vehicular VLC applications. Hence, it has been shown that without preventive measures, the Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR) can decrease below the imposed 90% limit for almost the entire service area. The results have also shown that although less aggressive, multi-user interference affects V2V links even in short-distance conditions. Therefore, this article has the merit of emphasizing a new challenge for vehicular VLC links and points out the importance of multiple-access techniques integration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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11 pages, 15841 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strong Noise Rejection in VLC Links under Realistic Conditions through a Real-Time SDR Front-End

by Muhammad Ali Umair, Marco Meucci and Jacopo Catani

Sensors 2023, 23(3), 1594; https://doi.org/10.3390/s23031594 - 1 Feb 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2284

Abstract

One of the main challenges in the deployment of visible light communication (VLC) in realistic application fields, such as intelligent transportation systems (ITSs), is represented by the presence of large background noise levels on top of the optical signal carrying the digital information. A versatile and effective digital filtering technique is, hence, crucial to face such an issue in an effective way. In this paper, we present an extensive experimental evaluation of a complete VLC system, embedding a software-defined-radio (SDR)-based digital signal processing (DSP) filter stage, which is tested either indoors, in the presence of strong artificial 100-Hz stray illumination, and outdoors, under direct sunlight. The system employs low-power automotive LED lamps, and it is tested for baud rates up to 1 Mbaud. We experimentally demonstrate that the use of the DSP technique improves 10× the performance of the VLC receiver over the original system without the filtering stage, reporting a very effective rejection of both 100-Hz and solar noise background. Indoors, the noise margin in the presence of strong 100-Hz noise is increased by up to 40 dB, whilst in the outdoor configuration, the system is capable of maintaining error-free communication in direct sunlight conditions, up to 7.5 m, improving the distance by a factor of 1.6 compared to the case without filtering. We believe that the proposed system is a very effective solution for the suppression of various types of noise effects in a large set of VLC applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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12 pages, 1863 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of Bidirectional VLC Systems in Low-Latency 6G Vehicular Networks and Comparison with IEEE802.11p and LTE/5G C-V2X

by Stefano Caputo, Lorenzo Mucchi, Muhammad Ali Umair, Marco Meucci, Marco Seminara and Jacopo Catani

Sensors 2022, 22(22), 8618; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22228618 - 8 Nov 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2412

Abstract

In this paper, we present very recent results regarding the latency characterization of a novel bidirectional visible light communication (VLC) system for vehicular applications, which could be relevant in intelligent transportation system (ITS) safety applications, such as the assisted and automated braking of cars and motorbikes in critical situations. The VLC system has been implemented using real motorbike head- and tail-lights with distances up to 27 m in a realistic outdoor scenario. We performed a detailed statistical analysis of the observed error distribution in the communication process, assessing the most probable statistical values of expected latency depending on the observed packet error rate (PER). A minimum attainable observed round-trip latency of 2.5 ms was measured. Using our dataset, we have also estimated the probability to receive correctly a message with a specific average latency for a target PER, and we compare it to the ultra-reliable low-latency (URLL) 5G communications service. In addition, a mobility model is implemented to compare the VLC and radio frequency (RF) technologies (IEEE802.11p, LTE, 5G) to support an automated braking systems for vehicles in urban platooning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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19 pages, 7009 KiB

Open AccessArticle

In-Vehicle Visible Light Communications Data Transmission System Using Optical Fiber Distributed Light: Implementation and Experimental Evaluation

by Cătălin Beguni, Alin-Mihai Căilean, Sebastian-Andrei Avătămăniței, Eduard Zadobrischi, Raul Stoler, Mihai Dimian, Valentin Popa, Bastien Béchadergue and Luc Chassagne

Sensors 2022, 22(18), 6738; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22186738 - 6 Sep 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4007

Abstract

Visible light communications emerges as a promising wireless communication technology that has been found suitable for numerous indoor and outdoor applications. In this article, a new in-vehicle VLC system is designed, implemented, and experimentally evaluated. The purpose of this new system is to provide car passengers with optical wireless communications. The proposed system consists of a VLC emitter integrated into the vehicle’s ambient lighting system and a mobile VLC receiver. Unlike any previous works, this article proposes a VLC emitter in which the light from a 3 W LED is distributed on a 2 square meter surface using 500 optical fibers whose main purpose is a decorative one. The proposed prototype has been implemented on a car and evaluated in relevant working conditions. The experimental evaluation of the proposed system has demonstrated the viability of the proposed concept and showed a data rate of 250 kb/s while providing a BER lower than 10⁻⁷. As far as we know, the proposed concept is totally new in the VLC literature, opening a new area of utilization for VLC technology: using VLC with optical fiber distributed light. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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23 pages, 3338 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Design, Implementation and Experimental Investigation of a Pedestrian Street Crossing Assistance System Based on Visible Light Communications

by Alin-Mihai Căilean, Cătălin Beguni, Sebastian-Andrei Avătămăniței, Mihai Dimian and Valentin Popa

Sensors 2022, 22(15), 5481; https://doi.org/10.3390/s22155481 - 22 Jul 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4762

Abstract

In urban areas, pedestrians are the road users category that is the most exposed to road accident fatalities. In this context, the present article proposes a totally new architecture, which aims to increase the safety of pedestrians on the crosswalk. The first component of the design is a pedestrian detection system, which identifies the user’s presence in the region of the crosswalk and determines the future street crossing action possibility or the presence of a pedestrian engaged in street crossing. The second component of the system is the visible light communications part, which is used to transmit this information toward the approaching vehicles. The proposed architecture has been implemented at a regular scale and experimentally evaluated in outdoor conditions. The experimental results showed a 100% overall pedestrian detection rate. On the other hand, the VLC system showed a communication distance between 5 and 40 m when using a standard LED light crosswalk sign as a VLC emitter, while maintaining a bit error ratio between 10⁻⁷ and 10⁻⁵. These results demonstrate the fact that the VLC technology is now able to be used in real applications, making the transition from a high potential technology to a confirmed technology. As far as we know, this is the first article presenting such a pedestrian street crossing assistance system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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25 pages, 9529 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis and Experimental Investigation of the Light Dimming Effect on Automotive Visible Light Communications Performances

by Cătălin Beguni, Alin-Mihai Căilean, Sebastian-Andrei Avătămăniței and Mihai Dimian

Sensors 2021, 21(13), 4446; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21134446 - 29 Jun 2021

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 3254

Abstract

The use of Visible Light Communications (VLC) in vehicular applications has become a major research area due to its simplicity, high performance to cost ratio, and great deployment potential. In this context, this article provides one of the very few analyses and experimental evaluations concerning the integration of a light dimming function in vehicular VLC systems. For this purpose, a vehicle-to-vehicle VLC prototype has been implemented and used to evaluate the systems’ communication performances in light dimming conditions, while decreasing the duty cycle from 40% to 1%, and increasing the communication range from 1 to 40–50 m. The experimental results showed that in normal lighting conditions, the VLC technology can easily support low duty cycle light dimming for ranges up to 40 m, while maintaining a 10⁻⁶ BER. Nevertheless, in strong optical noise conditions, when the system reaches its SNR limit, the communication range can decrease by half, whereas the BER can increase by 2–4 orders of magnitude. This article provides consistent evidence concerning the high potential of the VLC technology to support inter-vehicle communication links, even in light dimming conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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27 pages, 8479 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Evaluation of Misalignment Effect in Vehicle-to-Vehicle Visible Light Communications: Experimental Demonstration of a 75 Meters Link

by Sebastian-Andrei Avătămăniței, Cătălin Beguni, Alin-Mihai Căilean, Mihai Dimian and Valentin Popa

Sensors 2021, 21(11), 3577; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21113577 - 21 May 2021

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3899

Abstract

The use of visible light communications technology in communication-based vehicle applications is gaining more and more interest as the research community is constantly overcoming challenge after challenge. In this context, this article addresses the issues associated with the use of Visible Light Communications (VLC) technology in Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications, while focusing on two crucial issues. On the one hand, it aims to investigate the achievable communication distance in V2V applications while addressing the least favorable case, namely the one when a standard vehicle rear lighting system is used as a VLC emitter. On the other hand, this article investigates another highly unfavorable use case scenario, i.e., the case when two vehicles are located on adjacent lanes, rather than on the same lane. In order to evaluate the compatibility of the VLC technology with the usage in inter-vehicle communication, a VLC prototype is intensively evaluated in outdoor conditions. The experimental results show a record V2V VLC distance of 75 m, while providing a Bit Error Ratio (BER) of 10⁻⁷–10⁻⁶. The results also show that the VLC technology is able to provide V2V connectivity even in a situation where the vehicles are located on adjacent lanes, without a major impact on the link performances. Nevertheless, this situation generates an initial no-coverage zone, which is determined by the VLC receiver reception angle, whereas in some cases, vehicle misalignment can generate a BER increase that can go up to two orders of magnitude. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Automotive Visible Light Communications (AutoVLC))

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