Characterization of Optical Camera Communication Based on a Comprehensive System Model

Optical camera communication (OCC), as a complementary technology of radio frequency (RF), has played an important role in alleviating the burden on the existing spectrum and enhancing the reliability of communication. Theoretical investigations which describe the unique characteristics of camera-based optical wireless communication systems on a complete system model are limited, as most existing research utilized the indicators that are applied in photo detector (PD)-based systems. Due to the fact that cameras use pixel values to record the intensity of the LED, which carries the signals information, analysis based on pixel values has the ability to intuitively reflect OCC systems features. Motivated by this, a comprehensive system model which considers the photoelectric conversion and the imaging process of the camera is presented to characterize OCC systems in this paper. The proposed model which has been validated on the hardware platform describes the relationship between the LED driving current and the final pixel values on the image sensor. Some system parameters’ impact has been analyzed based on the proposed system model and corresponding experimental results. Performance analysis has been provided to characterize OCC systems from the communication perspective. Our investigation may help introduce a new perspective to understand the principle of OCC, as well as providing the theoretical support needed for the design in practical systems.