• Core Innovation & Objective • Developed a novel, integrated system architecture combining a modified USRP X310 software-defined radio platform with a custom-designed high-power LED optical transceiver. • Achieved high-speed, low-latency, and highly reliable audio-video transmission over Visible Light Communication (VLC) for intelligent transportation and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) applications, particularly in electromagnetically sensitive environments. • Key Technical Breakthroughs • LED Bandwidth Extension: Designed an innovative active pre-equalization circuit (based on a 4th-order high-pass RC bypass and op-amps) that dramatically increased the 3dB modulation bandwidth of a commercial 15W LED from 3 MHz to 120 MHz. • High-Speed Modulation: Successfully implemented 64QAM-OFDM modulation/demodulation using GNU Radio on the USRP, enabling spectrally efficient data transmission. • Advanced Optical Design: Custom-designed optical lenses (transmitter and receiver) and a high-power Bias-T circuit for efficient AC/DC coupling, ensuring the LED operates in its linear region and maximizing optical power transfer. • Stable Link Performance: Incorporated an Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit at the receiver, stabilizing the output voltage between 1.2V - 2.0V and maintaining a modulation signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) > 23 dB over varying distances. • Outstanding System Performance • The experimentally demonstrated performance metrics are exceptional for a VLC system: • Peak Data Rate: 500 Mbps • Communication Distance: 0 - 110 meters • Bit Error Rate (BER): As low as 1.74 × 10⁻⁵ (far below the 1 × 10⁻⁴ target) • End-to-End Latency: 23 dB optical modulation signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and stable receiver output voltage (1.2–2.0 V). The resulting compact system delivers low latency, high data rates, and high reliability. Under aligned optical path conditions, the system achieves >1 Mbit/s at 110 m (BER 0.49 × 10⁻⁵, delay 0.009-0.05s) and a peak rate of 500 Mbit/s at 10 m (BER 7.4 × 10⁻⁵), with an 11.5° transmit angle and a receiver field of view (FOV) of less than 18°. This work demonstrates the feasibility of high-power LED-based 64QAM-OFDM communication using USRP X310 for medium- to long-range vehicular links, providing a reference for intelligent transportation systems.
Gao et al. (Sun,) studied this question.