LED Communication Using a High Speed Digital Camera

Abstract

An optical communication system using a light-emitting diode (LED) as a transmitter and a high speed digital camera as a receiver is considered. The camera collects data at a rate of 1,200 frames per second (FPS). The pixel values are then processed using equal gain combining (EGC), best pixel selection (BPS), and maximal ratio combining (MRC) techniques. The bit error rate (BER) performance of these techniques is analyzed, and the effect of using different numbers of pixels for receiver processing is considered. The effect of the camera's pixel grid being at an angle with respect to the LED's direct path is experimentally explored.