Patent Application
20250233674
The invention relates to the field of optical wireless communication, such as Li-Fi communication. More particularly, various apparatus, systems, and methods are disclosed herein related to a secure optical wireless communication system.
To enable more and more electronic devices like laptops, tablets, and smartphones to connect wirelessly to the Internet, wireless communication confronts unprecedented requirements on data rates and link qualities, and such requirements keep on growing year over year, considering the emerging digital revolution related to Internet-of-Things (IoT). Radio frequency technology like Wi-Fi has limited spectrum capacity to embrace this revolution. In the meanwhile, light fidelity (Li-Fi) is drawing more and more attention with its intrinsic security enhancement and capability to support higher data rates over the available bandwidth in visible light, Ultraviolet (UV), and Infrared (IR) spectra. Furthermore, Li-Fi is directional and shielded by light blocking materials, which provides it with the potential to deploy a larger number of access points, as compared to Wi-Fi, in a dense area of users by spatially reusing the same bandwidth. These key advantages over wireless radio frequency communication make Li-Fi a promising secure solution to mitigate the pressure on the crowded radio spectrum for IoT applications and indoor wireless access. Other possible benefits of Li-Fi may include guaranteed bandwidth for a certain user, and the ability to function safely in areas otherwise susceptible to electromagnetic interference. Therefore, Li-Fi is a very promising technology to enable the next generation of immersive connectivity.
However, it is more challenging to obstruct an optical wireless signal in an outdoor application scenario as compared to an indoor scenario, because optical beams are emitted over free space and not all emitted optical signals are captured by a remote receiver, thereby posing potential risk to the security of the link.
To provide a secure optical wireless communication link, an optical data signal is emitted together with scrambling/jamming/masking signals such that the optical data signal can only be recovered within an intended range. Beyond the intended range, the scrambling/jamming, masking signal becomes dominant such that the optical data signal is no longer recoverable.
In view of the above, the present disclosure is directed to methods, apparatus, and systems for providing improved security to an optical wireless communication system. More particularly, the goal of this invention is achieved by an optical wireless communication device as claimed in claim 1, by an optical wireless communication system as claimed in claims 13 and 14, respectively, and by a method of an optical wireless communication device as claimed in claim 15.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention an optical wireless communication device is provided. An optical wireless communication device comprises a data transmitter configured to transmit an optical data signal; a masking transmitter configured to transmit an optical masking signal; wherein the optical masking signal comprising a wavelength component substantially identical to a wavelength component of the optical data signal. The optical wireless communication device is configured to set a certain distance by controlling at least one of the data transmitter and the masking transmitter, such that a coverage area of the optical data signal is overlapped with a coverage area of the optical masking signal to a certain extent at the certain distance, keeping a signal to noise ratio of the optical data signal below a threshold and complicating a recovery of the optical data signal by another device located at and beyond that certain distance.
The optical wireless communication may be carried out in visible light, Ultraviolet (UV), and Infrared (IR) spectra. Thus, the optical wireless communication may also be called a Li-Fi communication or a Visible Light Communication (VLC). Both of the data transmitter and the masking transmitter comprise at least a light source for optical data transmission. The light source or light emitter may be one of a light-emitting diode (LED), a laser diode, a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), or an Edge Emitting Laser Diode (EELD). Preferably, the light source comprises at least one of a LED and a VCSEL.
Since the optical masking signal comprises a wavelength component substantially identical to a wavelength component of the optical data signal, when there is an overlapping of the coverage areas of the optical masking signal and the optical data signal, part of the optical data signal may not be demodulated. The masking signal may also be emitted with a higher output power, and then the signal to noise ratio of the optical data signal is further degraded. When the signal to noise ratio of the optical data signal is below a certain level, the optical data signal can hardly be demodulated any more. Therefore, the optical wireless communication device may control at least one of the optical data transmitter and the masking transmitter to set the certain distance d to shield optical communication beyond that range.
Note that the substantial identical wavelength component between the optical masking signal and the optical data signal may also be interpreted as an identical frequency component. On top of the identical wavelength component or frequency component, different modulation and coding schemes may be applied as well.
For a certain application scenario, there may be a typical communication distance, such as the typical separation distance between two devices. The optical wireless communication device may then set the certain distance d based on the typical communication distance or intended communication distance to allow optical data signals can be received by the intended remote device without the risk of eavesdropped by a further remote device.
Beneficially, the optical wireless communication device is further configured to change the certain distance by at least one of: adjusting a beam angle of at least one of the data transmitter and the masking transmitter; tilting at least one of the data transmitter and the masking transmitter to make the coverage areas of the optical masking signal and the optical data signal move towards or away from each other; changing an inter-transmitter separation distance between the data transmitter and the masking transmitter; and changing an output power of at least one of the data transmitter and the masking transmitter.
Preferably, the masking transmitter is configured to transmit the optical masking signal at an output power level at least the same as the data transmitter
In another example, the optical masking signal are transmitted at a higher output power level than the data signal, when security requirement is more critical.
In one example, the device comprises at least one further masking transmitter, wherein the at least one further masking transmitter is configured to transmit a further optical masking signal, the device further configured to set the certain distance by further controlling the at least one further masking transmitter such that the coverage area of the optical data signal is overlapped by a combined coverage area of the optical masking signal and the at least one further optical masking signal at the certain distance from the device.
Beneficially, the masking transmitter and the further masking transmitter are placed on different sides of the data transmitter such that the coverage area of the optical data signal is surrounded by the combined coverage areas.
Preferably, the masking transmitter and the further masking transmitter are further configured to send alignment information to assist a beam alignment between the data transmitter and a remote receiver.
In addition to secure the optical data link, the masking transmitter and the further masking transmitter may also be used to assist the alignment of the narrow beam of the optical data transmitter. The alignment information may be sent with a wider beam angle than the optical data signal, and then such information can be detected easily without dedicated alignment procedure.
More preferably, the masking transmitter and the further masking transmitter are further configured to use Code-Division Multiple Access, CDMA, to send the alignment information, respectively; wherein the alignment information is transmitted at a frequency range different from either the optical masking signals or the optical data signal.
By using CDMA based access control, alignment information sent by the masking transmitter and the further masking transmitter can be detected by a receiving device simultaneously. Thus, the latency of alignment procedure can be reduced.
In one example, the alignment information comprises information regarding center of gravity of the data transmitter.
The masking or jamming transmitter may also be used to assist automatic aiming of the optical data transmission by using the COG (Centre Of Gravity) principle to align the two devices with each other. The COG based alignment information may be transmitted via CDMA signals, which are superimposed on optical masking or jamming signals, such that a CDMA alignment signal for COG alignment operates at a different frequency range than the optical data signal and optical masking signals.
Advantageously, the device further comprises a distance detector configured to estimate a communication distance from a remote device intended to establish optical wireless communication with the device, the device further configured to control the masking transmitter and the further masking transmitter such that the communication distance is within the certain distance.
When the separation between the optical wireless communication device and the remote device is unknown, the optical wireless communication device may set the certain distance d based on a typical communication distance or intended communication distance according to a certain application. With the furthermore accurate communication distance estimated via the distance detector, the security performance can be further improved, such that the certain distance d can be adjusted accordingly. This is very beneficial when there is a mobility with the optical wireless communication device and/or the remote device.
As one option, the distance detector is a Time-of-Flight (ToF) sensor.
Beneficially, the distance detector is configured to estimate the communication distance based on one of Time-of-Arrival, signal strength, or phase difference information of one or more received signals from the remote device
Different distance measurement technologies may be used. Correspondingly, the distance detector may be based on either one of or a combination of these technologies.
In one example, the device further comprises an optical data receiver configured to receive optical data signals.
The optical data receiver comprises at least a light detector. The light detector, also called photo detector or photo sensor, is a photodiode, which may be a PIN diode, an Avalanche Photo Diode (APD), or a photomultiplier.
The optical wireless communication device may also comprise an optical data transceiver configured to send and receive optical data signals.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, an optical wireless communication system is provided. An optical wireless communication system comprises an optical wireless communication device according to the present invention; and a remote optical data receiver configured to receive the optical data signal from the device; wherein the remote optical data receiver is located within the certain distance from the device
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, an optical wireless communication system is provided. An optical wireless communication system comprises an optical wireless communication device according to the present invention; and a remote receiver comprising an optical data receiver configured to receive the optical data signal from the device; at least two auxiliary receivers configured to receive the alignment information from the masking transmitter and the further masking transmitter of the device; wherein the remote receiver is located within the certain distance from the device.
In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, a method of an optical wireless communication device is provided. The method comprises following steps of the optical wireless communication device: transmitting an optical data signal by a data transmitter; transmitting an optical masking signal by a masking transmitter; setting a certain distance by controlling at least one of the data transmitter and the masking transmitter, such that a coverage area of the optical data signal is overlapped by a coverage area of the optical masking signal to a certain extent at the certain distance, thus keeping a signal to noise ratio of the optical data signal below a threshold and complicating a recovery of the optical data signal by another device located at and beyond that certain distance; wherein the optical masking signal comprising a wavelength component substantially identical to a wavelength component of the optical data signal.
In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different figures. Also, the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.
The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.
Shaping and directing an optical beam containing data is simpler as compared to doing the similar with a radio link. Furthermore, reflected signal from a scattered optical beam has a high attenuation and is therefore practically difficult to be recovered by means of a collimator and detector. Therefore, it is advantageous to use optical data links for wireless communication applications where security is considered to be critical.
However, having a collimated beam may not be sufficient as only a portion of the emitted signal will be captured by the receiving end and the remaining signal continues to travel further. The remaining signal may be captured at a longer distance and be collimated for demodulation (optical gain by means of lens or collimator comes free of noise), and thereby affects the security performance. To avoid an optical wireless signal, or a VLC/Li-Fi signal, from being captured and recovered at a range longer than expected, masking/scrambling/jamming signals may be added along with the data signal as parallel spatial streams to shield the data signal from being eavesdropped.
The optical wireless communication device 200 may further comprises a distance detector to estimate a communication distance from a remote device, with which the optical wireless communication device 200 is intended to establish an optical wireless communication link. The communication distance may be estimated based on a technology according to Time-of-Arrival, signal strength, or phase difference information of one or more received signals from the remote device. Upon information on the desired communication distance, the device 200 may control at least one of the data transmitter 201, the masking transmitter 202 and the further masking transmitter 203, such that the desired communication distance is within the certain distance d. And then, a secured communication link can be provided, with other devices beyond the certain distance d incapable of detecting the date signals.
For simplification, a simple example is illustrated as a fully symmetrical system, where the distances 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 are considered to be equal and emission half-angles 3001, 3002, 3003 and 3004 are considered to be equal as well. In an actual implementation, different separate distances between jammers and data transmitter and different emission half angles may be adopted. Within the nearest range 1006, there is no overlap between optical data signal 1002, and jamming signals 1001, 1003, 1004 and 1005, where the optical jammer signal 1001 is radiated with an emission half-angle (α), 3001, that irradiates a surface area with a radius, r1, over a distance l as
and the optical data signal 1002 is radiated with an emission half-angle (α), 3002, that irradiates a surface area with a radius, r2, over a distance l as
With the emission half-angles 3001, and 3002 of the transmitters 1001 and 1002; and the distance between the two transmitters, 2001, the maximum non-overlapping range of l1011 can be determined as
Within the range l1006, the optical data signal can be received in a radius r2.
Beyond the range of l1006, max, a new rage is defined as the overlapping range, l1007, where the jamming signal partially overlaps the optical data signal, but the optical data signal may still be captured. The maximum length of, l1007, can be determined as
For sake of simple understanding (and symmetry) the received signal area is considered to be circular with radius rr1 for the range 1006 and also circular area with radius rr2 (taking the maximum circular reception area of signal 6002) for range 1007. A practical example is given by half-angles 3001, and 3002 that are set to 1 degree, and distance between VLC jammers 1001 and VLC signal 1002 set to be 0.5 meters. Within this example the VLC signal within range l<l1011 results in signal area with radius rr1(l)=tan (α3002)l. For the range l1011≤l≤l1012, the VLC jamming signals start to overlap VLC signal. The VLC reception area can be simplified to a circular reception area with radius rr2=l2001−tan (α3002)l. For l>l1012, the jamming signals completely overlap the VLC signal 1002, and they will thereby prevent detection and demodulation of VLC signal 1002. When combining the ranges 1006 and 1007, each with their own coverage areas with radius rr1 and rr2, the coverage area with radius rr over distances l becomes rr=rr1 for l<1006max, and rr2 for l1011≤l≤l1012. The practical range of the secure optical data link will be slightly less as the detector requires a minimum surface area to be irradiated with a minimum amount of power, e.g., the practical distance in which the signal can be received varies between 5 meters and 25 meters.
The optical wireless communication system 100 may also comprise a pair of transceiver, which establish a bi-directional optical link. In that case, the optical wireless communication device 200 comprises an optical data transceiver, a masking transmitter and a further masking transmitter. The remote device 300 has the same set up as the optical wireless communication device 200, which also comprises an optical data transceiver, a masking transmitter and a further masking transmitter.
Similarly, if CDMA-based alignment is supported, the two remote devices may have the same following basic setup: an optical data transceiver configured to send optical data signals, a masking transmitter, a further masking transmitter, a first CDMA transceiver collocated with the masking transmitter, a second CDMA transceiver collocated with the further masking transmitter. Alternatively, the first CDMA transceiver and the masking transmitter may be implemented as a single auxiliary transceiver, which is configured to send masking/jamming signals and to send or detect CDMA-based alignment information on a different frequency other than the masking/jamming signals. The second CDMA transceiver and the further masking transmitter may also be implemented as a single auxiliary transceiver, which is configured to send masking/jamming signals and to send or detect CDMA-based alignment information on a different frequency other than the masking/jamming signals.
and then in step S603, setting a certain distance d by controlling at least one of the data transmitter 201 and the masking transmitter 202, such that a coverage area 210 of the optical data signal is overlapped by a coverage area 220 of the optical masking signal to a certain extent at the certain distance, thus keeping a signal to noise ratio of the optical data signal below a threshold and complicating a recovery of the optical data signal by another device located at and beyond that certain distance d; wherein the optical masking signal comprising a wavelength component substantially identical to a wavelength component of the optical data signal.
The methods according to the invention may be implemented on a computer as a computer implemented method, or in dedicated hardware, or in a combination of both.
Executable code for a method according to the invention may be stored on computer/machine readable storage means. Examples of computer/machine readable storage means include non-volatile memory devices, optical storage medium/devices, solid-state media, integrated circuits, servers, etc. Preferably, the computer program product comprises non-transitory program code means stored on a computer readable medium for performing a method according to the invention when said program product is executed on a computer.
Methods, systems, and computer-readable media (transitory and non-transitory) may also be provided to implement selected aspects of the above-described embodiments.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22166772.8 | Apr 2022 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2023/058119 | 3/29/2023 | WO |
