Streaming QR Codes–A Survey

Streaming QR codes is an optical wireless communication (OWC) technology that uses screen-camera communication (SCC) with dynamic QR codes for visible light communication (VLC). At a basic level, VLC uses a light-emitting diode (LED) and photodiode (PD) pair to establish the wireless link required for optical communication. SCC leverages the millions of LEDs and PDs in its screen and camera pair to establish millions of wireless links resembling massive multiple-input multiple-output in radio frequency (RF) communication. SCC technology is constrained by limits in current optoelectronic equipment such as screen refresh rate, rolling shutter and LED blink frequency. Overcoming these hurdles would provide access to tera Hertz of unlicensed optical spectrum easing the burden on scarce RF resources. Smartphone-based SCC using streaming QR codes is a promising technology for short-range wireless communication. The various smartphones, screens and cameras in use today can be leveraged for seamless information transfer between physical and virtual realities. The body of knowledge for SCC is substantial yet dispersed therefore this paper presents a survey on streaming QR codes as an SCC variant. The purpose of this survey is to provide a well-structured consolidation of the literature on SCC with emphasis on streaming QR codes to aid future studies. It describes the symbology enhancements for improved throughput in streaming QR codes where reports have shown up to 24-times data storage improvements and 900 kbps achievable throughput. It further demonstrates that eliminating distortion can result in 7.6673 Mbps achievable throughput.