Bidirectional LED-to-LED communication and energy generator for a VLC-ID access system

Authors

Keywords:

LED-to-LED communication, Energy harvesting, VLC, LED as a sensor, RGB LED, Optical wireless communication

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a bidirectional visible light communication system using a 5 mm red, green, and blue (RGB) light emitting diode (LED), whicht only serve as data transmitters and receivers but also function as power generators. A distinctive feature of the system is the implementation of a power divider using an RGB LED, which mitigates the complexity of the implementation of the optical transceiver and the collection of energy generated by the LED. The primary objective is to model a visible light communication identification system (VLC-ID) that is capable of operating efficiently in access applications by leveraging the ability of RGB LEDs to perform multiple functions simultaneously. To achieve this, the system employs OOK modulation and capacitor voltage accumulation. The research adopts an experimental approach, evaluating the bit error rate and the voltage accumulated by the system to demonstrate the viability and efficiency of the proposed model for access systems based on visible light communication technology.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Andres Isaza, Institución Universitaria ITM

Andrés Isaza received his B.Sc. in Electromechanical Engineering in 2013 and his M.Sc. in Automation and Industrial Control in 2025, both from the Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano, Medellín, Colombia. He is currently a professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Institución Universitaria Pascual Bravo, where he has also served as Coordinator of Research Seedbeds since 2013. He has presented his research at international events, including ENO-CANCOA in Cartagena and the Fifth Virtual Congress on Microcontrollers and their Applications. His research interests include energy harvesting, visible light communication, and industrial automation and control.

Roger Alexander Martínez Ciro, Institución Universitaria ITM

Roger Martínez received his B.Sc. in Telecommunication Engineering in 2015, his M.Sc. in Automation and Industrial Control in 2018, and his Ph.D. in Engineering in 2023 from the Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano, Medellín, Colombia. Since 2018, he has been a Research Professor at the Faculty of Engineering. His research lines are optical wireless communication, indoor positioning, and visible light communication.

Francisco Eugenio Lopez Giraldo, Institución Universitaria ITM

Francisco López received his B.Sc. in Physics in 2003, his M.Sc. in Physics on Many-Body Interactions in Semiconductors in 2007, and his Ph.D. in Physics on Semiconductor Nanostructures in 2009 from the University of Antioquia, Colombia. In 2008, he collaborated with UNICAMP in Brazil on semiconductor nanostructures research. Currently, he is a Research Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the Instituto Tecnológico Metropolitano, Colombia. His research lines are antennas, wireless communication, and visible light communication.

References

A. K. Singh and B. Patro, “Security attacks on rfid and their countermeasures,” in Computer Communication, Networking and IoT: Proceedings of ICICC 2020. Springer, 2021, pp. 509–518, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0980-0_49.

C. Munoz-Ausecha, J. Ruiz-Rosero, and G. Ramirez-Gonzalez, “Rfid applications and security review,” Computation, vol. 9, no. 6, p. 69, 2021, https://doi.org/10.3390/computation9060069.

L. E. M. Matheus, A. B. Vieira, L. F. Vieira, M. A. Vieira, and O. Gnawali, “Visible light communication: concepts, applications and challenges,” IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 3204–3237, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2019.2913348.

Y. Guo, K. Xiong, Y. Lu, D. Wang, P. Fan, and K. B. Letaief, “Achievable information rate in hybrid vlc-rf networks with lighting energy harvesting,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 69, no. 10,

pp. 6852–6864, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1109/TCOMM. 2021.3098030.

S. N. Ismail and M. H. Salih, “A review of visible light communication (vlc) technology,” in AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 2213, no. 1. AIP Publishing, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0000109.

L. Incipini, A. Belli, L. Palma, M. Ballicchia, and P. Pierleoni, “Sensing light with leds: performance evaluation for iot applications,” Journal of Imaging, vol. 3, no. 4, p. 50, 2017, https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging3040050.

F. Leccese and G. S. Spagnolo, “Led-to-led wireless communication between divers,” Acta IMEKO, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 80–89, 2021, https://doi.org/10.21014/acta_ imeko.v10i4.1177.

G. M. Pour and W. D. Leon-Salas, “Solar energy harvesting with light emitting diodes,” in 2014 IEEE

International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS). IEEE, 2014, pp. 1981–1984, https://doi.org/

1109/ISCAS.2014.6865551.

M. S. Mir, B. Majlesein, B. G. Guzman, J. Rufo, and D. Giustiniano, “Rgb led bulbs for communication, harvesting and sensing,” in 2022 IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom). IEEE, 2022, pp. 180–186, https://doi.org/10.1109/PerCom53586.2022.9762392.

V. Lange and R. Hönl, “Led as transmitter and receiver in pof-based bidirectional communication systems,” in 2018 International IEEE Conference and Workshop in Óbuda on Electrical and Power Engineering (CANDO-EPE). IEEE, 2018, pp. 000137–000142, https://doi.org/10.1109/CANDO-PE.2018.8601162.

A. R. Ndjiongue and T. M. Ngatched, “Led-based energy harvesting systems for modern mobile terminals,” in 2020 International Symposium on Networks, Computers and Communications (ISNCC). IEEE, 2020, pp. 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1109/ISNCC49221.2020.9297232.

P. D. Diamantoulakis and G. K. Karagiannidis, “Simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer (slipt) for indoor iot applications,” in GLOBECOM 2017-2017 IEEE Global Communications Conference. IEEE, 2017, pp. 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1109/GLOCOM. 2017.8254781.

I. Haydaroglu and S. Mutlu, “Optical power delivery and data transmission in a wireless and batteryless microsystem using a single light emitting diode,” Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 155–165, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1109/JMEMS.2014. 2323202.

X. Fan, W. D. Leon-Salas, T. Fischer, and A. Perez-Olvera, “An led-based image sensor with energy harvesting and projection capabilities,” in 2016 IEEE SENSORS. IEEE, 2016, pp. 1–3, https://doi.org/10.1109/ICSENS.2016.7808901.

W. D. Leon-Salas and X. Fan, “Photo-luminescence modulation circuits for solar cell based optical

communications,” in 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS). IEEE, 2019, pp. 1–5, https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCAS.2019. 8702596.

P. A. Loureiro, F. P. Guiomar, and P. P. Monteiro, “Visible light communications: A survey on recent high-capacity demonstrations and digital modulation techniques,” in Photonics, vol. 10, no. 9. MDPI, 2023, p. 993, https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics10090993.

M. Hasegawa, “Satisfactory role of leds as a light receiving component and their uses in science

demonstration experiments for educational purposes,” in Education and Training in Optics and Photonics. Optica Publishing Group, 2019, p. 11143_79, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2523733.

F. A. Dahri, F. A. Umrani, A. Baqai, and H. B. Mangrio, “Design and implementation of led–led indoor visible light communication system,” Physical communication, vol. 38, p. 100981, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. phycom.2019.100981.

R. A. Martínez-Ciro, F. E. López-Giraldo, A. F. Betancur-Perez, and J. M. Luna-Rivera, “Design and implementation of a multi-colour visible light communication system based on a light-to-frequency receiver,” in Photonics, vol. 6, no. 2. IEEE LATIN AMERICA TRANSACTIONS , Vol. 7, No. 7, Oct 2020

MDPI, 2019, p. 42, https://doi.org/10.3390/photonics6020042.

M. Galal, W. P. Ng, R. Binns, and A. Abd El Aziz, “Characterization of rgb leds as emitter and photodetector for led-to-led communication,” in 2020 12th International Symposium on Communication

Systems, Networks and Digital Signal Processing (CSNDSP). IEEE, 2020, pp. 1–6, https://doi.org/10. 1109/CSNDSP49049.2020.9249617

Downloads

Published

2025-11-01

How to Cite

Isaza, A., Martínez Ciro, R. A., & Lopez Giraldo, F. E. (2025). Bidirectional LED-to-LED communication and energy generator for a VLC-ID access system. IEEE Latin America Transactions, 23(12), 1346–1355. Retrieved from https://latamt.ieeer9.org/index.php/transactions/article/view/9746

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 12 (2025): Ordinary Issue

Section

Electronics