Target Localization with Visible Light Communication in High Ambient Light Environments

Abstract

This paper builds on prior research that demonstrated how inexpensive commercial off-the-shelf lighting components and microcontrollers could be used to construct a solution for occupant and asset localization and tracking through visible light communication (VLC). A significant challenge encountered in the prior work was mitigating the effect of ambient light optical interference. This paper describes the implementation of several techniques to negate the effect of ambient light interference under varying conditions. The techniques involved modifications to the modulation scheme employed, redundant transmissions over multiple wavelengths, and an adaptive digital filtering technique. Furthermore, this paper discusses the challenges involved with implementation the approach on a severely resource constrained microcontroller and the optimization strategies employed. The overall effectiveness of the system is measured and discussed.