Document Type : Research article
Authors
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, 1983969411 Tehran, Iran
Abstract
This paper explores the integration of intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) with visible light communication (VLC) to enhance optical communication reliability and mitigate link blockage. We particularly focus on a patient vital signal monitoring system in a hospital, where a wireless optical device-to-device (D2D) unit transmits signals to a monitoring center. Our study highlights the benefits of using an IRS, demonstrating that a 35-unit IRS array can double the received optical power compared to traditional non-line-of-sight (NLOS) links. We also propose an optimal placement strategy for IRS on indoor area walls to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and minimize the bit error rate (BER), considering constraints specific to optical wireless communication. We formulate and solve an optimization problem to determine the best IRS location, aimed at achieving ubiquitous communication with minimal BER. Numerical results illustrate the system's effectiveness in enhancing optical link reliability for patient monitoring. The findings indicate that optimal IRS placement can result in a BER as low as 2.48×10-8, and with adjustments to the photodetector orientation, an even lower BER of around 6.32×10-10 can be achieved without increasing transmitter power. This research underscores the potential of IRS in improving the performance of VLC systems, particularly in critical applications such as healthcare monitoring.
Highlights
- Employing visible light communication (VLC) for monitoring patient's vital signals
- Using intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) to overcome optical link blockage
- Extracting the practical constraints for employing IRS in the indoor environment
- Derivation of the optimal deployment location of IRS in the indoor hospital environment
- Investigating the effect of optical detector orientation in determining the optimal deployment location of IRS
Keywords
- Intelligent reflecting surface (IRS)
- Device-to-device (D2D)
- Bit error rate (BER)
- Non-line-of-sight (NLOS)
- Vital signal monitoring system
- Signal to noise ratio (SNR)
Main Subjects
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