Robust VLC for vehicular networks: design and performance evaluation

Dependable communication between vehicles is crucial for improving road safety and enabling autonomous driving. Traditional radio frequency (RF) communication methods, although widely utilized, face several challenges, including spectrum congestion, electromagnetic interference, security vulnerabilities, and limited bandwidth. These limitations restrict their ability to deliver the high-speed, low-latency communication required for intelligent transportation systems (ITS). Visible Light Communication (VLC) emerges as a promising alternative by leveraging existing automotive lighting infrastructure for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication. Unlike RF, VLC is immune to electromagnetic interference, thereby reducing transmission errors and improving signal reliability in urban environments. Its directional, line-of-sight nature significantly enhances security by minimizing the risk of unauthorized interception. Additionally, VLC offers higher data transmission rates, making it ideal for real-time vehicular applications such as adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance, and lane-changing assistance. Despite its advantages, VLC faces challenges under adverse weather conditions, which can attenuate signals and degrade performance. To mitigate these effects, robust modulation techniques are essential. This study evaluates and compares the performance of various modulation schemes—including amplitude shift keying (ASK), binary phase shift keying (BPSK), and pulse position modulation (PPM)—under different weather conditions using OptiSystem simulations. Key performance metrics such as bit error rate (BER), quality factor (Q-factor), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were analyzed. The findings reveal that PPM outperforms the other techniques in adverse weather, demonstrating lower BER and higher Q-factor values. These results underscore the potential of PPM as a robust and sustainable modulation technique for next-generation ITS, paving the way for safer and more efficient transportation systems.