Vehicular Visible Light Communications: A Survey

Visible Light Communications (VLC) is becoming a mature communication technology, particularly for indoor usage. The application in outdoor environments is especially interesting in the scope of Vehicular VLC (V-VLC), however, there are some critical challenges remaining. In general, VLC is a good complement to Radio Frequency (RF)-based communication. For automotive use cases, V-VLC can benefit from the huge available spectrum and the readily available Light Emitting Diode (LED)-based lighting systems of modern cars. Its Line Of Sight (LOS) characteristics, the directionality of the light, and the smaller collision domain substantially reduces interference. In this survey article, we study the state of the art of V-VLC and identify open issues and challenges. We study the V-VLC communication system as a whole and also dig into the characteristics of the VLC channel. For the beginner in the field, this review acts as a guide to the most relevant literature to quickly catch up with current trends and achievements. For the expert, we identify open research questions and also introduce the V-VLC research community as a whole.

Automated summary

Visible Light Communications (VLC) is an emerging communication technology that is maturing, especially for indoor usage, and shows potential for outdoor applications such as Vehicular VLC (V-VLC). V-VLC can benefit from the vast spectrum and LED-based lighting systems of modern cars, providing low interference and a smaller collision domain. This survey article examines the state of V-VLC technology and highlights open issues and challenges, serving as a guide for beginners and identifying research questions for experts in the field.