Analysis of Space Shift Keying modulation applied to visible light communications

Space Shift Keying (SSK) modulation combined with Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) technique is an entirely novel modulation concept that utilizes the spatial domain for communication. In this scheme, several transmitters are used for data transmission, but only one transmitter is active at any time instance, which can be implemented by establishing a one-to-one mapping between the information to be transmitted and the index of the transmitters. In this paper, the performance of SSK applied to Visible Light Communications (VLC) is studied, and the upper-bound bit-error-ratio (BER) is analyzed. The analytical results are validated via Monte Carlo simulations and an optimal performance can be achieved through proper selection of the element spacing of the single LEDs, the half power semi-angles and the position of the PDs.