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The escalating impact of vehicular Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions on air pollution, global warming, and climate change necessitates innovative solutions. This paper proposes a comprehensive Internet-of-Vehicles (IoV) network for real-time CO2 emissions estimation and reduction. We implemented and tested an on-board device that estimates the vehicle’s emissions and transmits the data to the network. The estimated CO2 emissions values are close to the standard emissions values of petrol and diesel vehicles, accounting for expected discrepancies due to vehicles’ age and loading. The network uses the aggregate emissions readings to inform the Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithm, enabling the prediction of optimal speed limits to minimize vehicular emissions. The results demonstrate that employing the RL algorithm can achieve an average CO2 emissions reduction of 11 kg/h to 150 kg/h.

In this paper, we experimentally illustrate the effectiveness of neural networks (NNs) as non-linear equalisers for multilevel pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-M) transmission over an optical wireless communication (OWC) link. In our study, we compare the bit-error-rate (BER) performances of two decision feedback equalisers (DFEs)—a multilayer-perceptron-based DFE (MLPDFE), which is the NN equaliser, and a transversal DFE (TRDFE)—under two degrees of non-linear distortion using an eye-safe 850 nm single-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (SM-VCSEL). Our results consistently show that the MLPDFE delivers superior performance in comparison to the TRDFE, particularly in scenarios involving high non-linear distortion and PAM constellations with eight or more levels. At a forward error correction (FEC) threshold BER of 0.0038, we achieve bit rates of ~28 Gbps, ~29 Gbps, ~22.5 Gbps, and ~5 Gbps using PAM schemes with 2, 4, 8, and 16 levels, respectively, with the MLPDFE. Comparably, the TRDFE yields bit rates of ~28 Gbps and ~29 Gbps with PAM-2 and PAM-4, respectively. Higher PAM levels with the TRDFE result in BERs greater than 0.0038 for bit rates above 2 Gbps. These results highlight the effectiveness of the MLPDFE in optimising the performance of SM-VCSEL-based OWC systems across different modulation schemes and non-linear distortion levels.

Abstract Visible light communication can be leveraged to establish a wireless link between neurons in spiking networks even when neural areas are in relative motions. In electro‐optical spiking neural networks (SNN), parallel transmission is often achieved through wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). However, WDM can be prohibitive in certain applications due to the need for multiple narrow‐band transmitters and receivers with optical bandpass filters. Instead of WDM, an alternative approach of using non‐orthogonal multiple access is explored (NOMA) with a pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) scheme in optical axons to enable parallel neural paths in an SNN. To evaluate NOMA with PAM, the authors implement an electro‐optical SNN that controls the force of two anthropomorphic fingers actuated by the shape memory alloy‐based actuators. An optical reference channel is used to dynamically adjust the optical receiver's gain to improve the receiver's decoding performance. Experimental results demonstrate that the electro‐optical SNN can maintain control over the fingers and hold an object under varying channel conditions. Hence, the proposed system offers robustness against dynamic optical channels induced by the relative motion of neurons.

Existing physiological control fatigue models propose that there may be a regulator in the central nervous system which modulates our daily physical activity. Within limits, this regulator ensures physical activity is completed without physiological system failure through interactive communications between the peripheral systems and the central systems. The ability of the central nervous system to regulate exercise is vital to optimise sport performance when severe intensity exercise might be required for prolonged or frequent periods. Based on mathematical models, this investigation explores the complex relationship between some of the mechanisms controlling physical activity and behaviour. In order to analyse the system control mechanisms, heart rate, volume of oxygen consumption and power output were measured for a well-trained male cyclist. Using power spectrum analysis, fractal analysis and continuous wavelet transforms, we show that the system control mechanisms regulating physiological systems, have distinct complexity. Moreover, the potential central controller uses specific frequency bands simultaneously to control and communicate with the various physiological systems. We show that pacing trials are regulated by different physiological systems.

Turbulence-induced fading is a critical performance degrading factor for underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) systems. In this paper, we propose a quasi-cyclic (QC) low-density parity-check (LDPC) code with multiple-pulse-position modulation (MPPM) to overcome turbulence-induced fading. MPPM is adopted as a compromise between the low-power efficiency of on–off keying (OOK) and the low bandwidth efficiency of pulse position modulation (PPM). The bit error rate (BER) performance of LDPC-coded MPPM over turbulence UWOC channels is investigated. The log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of MPPM is derived, and a simplified approximation is used for iterative decoding. Subsequently, the closed-form expression of the BER, without forward error correction (FEC) code, is obtained for the generalized-gamma (GG) fading model. Finally, Monte-Carlo (MC) simulation results are provided to demonstrate the correctness of the derived closed-form expressions and the effectiveness of the LDPC code with simplified LLR to improve the BER performance for different MPPM formats over fading channels.

Color converting films of colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) encapsulated with flexible glass are integrated with microsize GaN LEDs (μLEDs) in order to form optical sources for high-speed visible light communications (VLC). VLC is an emerging technology that uses white and/or colored light from LEDs to combine illumination and display functions with the transmission of data. The flexible glass/CQD format addresses the issue of limited modulation speed of typical phosphor-converted LEDs while enhancing the photostability of the color converters and facilitating their integration with the μLEDs. These structures are less than 70 μm in total thickness and are directly placed in contact with the polished sapphire substrate of 450-nm-emitting μLEDs. Blue-to-green, blue-to-orange, and blue-to-red conversion with respective forward optical power conversion efficiencies of 13%, 12%, and 5.5% are reported. In turn, free-space optical communications up to 1.4 Gb/s VLC is demonstrated. Results show that CQD-converted LEDs pave the way for practical digital lighting/displays with multi-Gb/s capability.

We demonstrate the development, performance, and application of a GaN-based micro-light emitting diode ( $\mu$LED) array sharing a common p-electrode (anode), and with individually addressable n-electrodes (cathodes). Compared to conventional GaN-based LED arrays, this array design employs a reversed structure of common and individual electrodes, which makes it innovative and compatible with n-type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistor-based drivers for faster modulation. Excellent performance characteristics are illustrated by an example array emitting at 450 nm. At a current density of 17.7 kA/cm$^2$ in direct-current operation, the optical power and small signal electrical-to-optical modulation bandwidth of a single $\mu$LED element with 24 $\mu$m diameter are over 2.0 mW and 440 MHz, respectively. The optimized fabrication process also ensures a high yield of working $\mu$LED elements per array and excellent element-to-element uniformity of electrical/optical characteristics. Results on visible light communication are presented as an application of an array integrated with an NMOS driver. Data transmission at several hundred Mb/s without bit error is achieved for single- and multiple-$\mu$ LED-element operations, under an on–off-keying modulation scheme. Transmission of stepped sawtooth waveforms is also demonstrated to confirm that the $\mu$ LED elements can transmit discrete multilevel signals.

The bi-directional information transfer in optical body area networks (OBANs) is crucial at all the three tiers of communication, i.e., intra-, inter-, and beyond-BAN communication, which correspond to tier-I, tier-II, and tier-III, respectively. However, the provision of uninterrupted uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) connections at tier II (inter-BAN) are extremely critical, since these links serve as a bridge between tier-I (intra-BAN) and tier-III (beyond-BAN) communication. Any negligence at this level could be life-threatening; therefore, enabling quality-of-service (QoS) remains a fundamental design issue at tier-II. Consequently, to provide QoS, a key parameter is to ensure link reliability and communication quality by maintaining a nearly uniform signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) within the coverage area. Several studies have reported the effects of transceiver related parameters on OBAN link performance, nevertheless the implications of changing transmitter locations on the SNR uniformity and communication quality have not been addressed. In this work, we undertake a DL scenario and analyze how the placement of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps can improve the SNR uniformity, regardless of the receiver position. Subsequently, we show that using the principle of reciprocity (POR) and with transmitter-receiver positions switched, the analysis is also applicable to UL, provided that the optical channel remains linear. Moreover, we propose a generalized optimal placement scheme along with a heuristic design formula to achieve uniform SNR and illuminance for DL using a fixed number of transmitters and compare it with an existing technique. The study reveals that the proposed placement technique reduces the fluctuations in SNR by 54% and improves the illuminance uniformity up to 102% as compared to the traditional approach. Finally, we show that, for very low luminous intensity, the SNR values remain sufficient to maintain a minimum bit error rate (BER) of 10−9 with on-off keying non-return-to-zero (OOK-NRZ) modulation format.

Recently, neuromorphic sensors, which convert analogue signals to spiking frequencies, have been reported for neurorobotics. In bio-inspired systems these sensors are connected to the main neural unit to perform post-processing of the sensor data. The performance of spiking neural networks has been improved using optical synapses, which offer parallel communications between the distanced neural areas but are sensitive to the intensity variations of the optical signal. For systems with several neuromorphic sensors, which are connected optically to the main unit, the use of optical synapses is not an advantage. To address this, in this paper we propose and experimentally verify optical axons with synapses activated optically using digital signals. The synaptic weights are encoded by the energy of the stimuli, which are then optically transmitted independently. We show that the optical intensity fluctuations and link’s misalignment result in delay in activation of the synapses. For the proposed optical axon, we have demonstrated line of sight transmission over a maximum link length of 190 cm with a delay of 8 μs. Furthermore, we show the axon delay as a function of the illuminance using a fitted model for which the root mean square error (RMS) similarity is 0.95.

In this paper, low-density parity-check (LDPC)-coded carrierless amplitude and phase (CAP) modulation with spatial diversity is proposed to mitigate turbulence-induced fading in an underwater visible-light communication (UVLC) channel. Generalized-gamma (GG) distribution was used to model the fading, as this model is valid for weak- and strong-turbulence regimes. On the basis of the characteristic function (CHF) of GG random variables, we derived an approximated bit-error rate (BER) for the CAP modulation scheme with spatial diversity and equal-gain combining (EGC). Furthermore, we simulated the performance of the CAP system with diversity and LDPC for various turbulence conditions and validated the analysis. Obtained results showed that the combination of LDPC and spatial diversity is effective in mitigating turbulence-induced fading, especially when turbulence strength is strong.

An important step in the design of receiver aperture and optimal spacing of the diversity scheme for an underwater laser communication system is to accurately characterize the two-dimensional (2D) spatial distribution of laser beam intensity. In this paper, the 2D optical intensity distribution and 3 dB optical intensity spot radius (OISR) are investigated due to the dominating optical intensity of laser beam being within the 3 dB OISR. By utilizing the Henyey−Greenstein function to compute the scattering angles of photons, the effects of the scattering underwater optical channel and optical system parameters on 3 dB OISR are examined based on the Monte Carlo simulation method. We have shown for the first time that in the channel with a high density of scattering particles, the divergence angle of the laser source plays a negligible role in 3 dB OISR. This is an interesting phenomenon and important for optical communication as this clearly shows that the geometric loss is no longer important for the design of receiver aperture and optimal spacing of the diversity scheme for the underwater laser communication system in the highly scattering channel.

This paper proposes a comprehensive study of indoor intruder tracking using visible light communication (VLC). A realistic indoor VLC channel was developed, taking into consideration reflections, shadowing, and ambient noise. The intruder was considered smart and aiming to escape tracking. This was modelled by adding noise and disturbance to the intruder’s trajectory. We propose to extend the application of minimax filtering from state estimation in the radio frequency (RF) domain to intruder tracking using VLC. The performance of the proposed method was examined and compared with Kalman filter for both VLC and RF. The simulation results showed that the minimax filter provided marginally better tracking and was more robust to the adversary behavior of the intruder than Kalman filter, with less than 0.5 cm estimation error. In addition, minimax was significantly better than Kalman filter for RF tracking applications.

As autonomous vehicles become more common on the roads, their advancement draws on safety concerns for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. This paper presents a review of recent developments in pedestrian and cyclist detection and intent estimation to increase the safety of autonomous vehicles, for both the driver and other road users. Understanding the intentions of the pedestrian/cyclist enables the self-driving vehicle to take actions to avoid incidents. To make this possible, development of methods/techniques, such as deep learning (DL), for the autonomous vehicle will be explored. For example, the development of pedestrian detection has been significantly advanced using DL approaches, such as; Fast Region-Convolutional Neural Network (R-CNN) , Faster R-CNN and Single Shot Detector (SSD). Although DL has been around for several decades, the hardware to realise the techniques have only recently become viable. Using these DL methods for pedestrian and cyclist detection and applying it for the tracking, motion modelling and pose estimation can allow for a successful and accurate method of intent estimation for the vulnerable road users. Although there has been a growth in research surrounding the study of pedestrian detection using vision-based approaches, further attention should include focus on cyclist detection. To further improve safety for these vulnerable road users (VRUs), approaches such as sensor fusion and intent estimation should be investigated.

Artificial neural network (ANN) has application in communication engineering in diverse areas such as channel equalization, channel modeling, error control code because of its capability of nonlinear processing, adaptability, and parallel processing. On the other hand, wavelet transform (WT) with both the time and the frequency resolution provides the exact representation of signal in both domains. Applying these signal processing tools for channel compensation and noise reduction can provide an enhanced performance compared to the traditional tools. In this paper, the slot error rate (SER) performance of digital pulse interval modulation (DPIM) in diffuse indoor optical wireless (OW) links subjected to the artificial light interference (ALI) is reported with new receiver structure based on the discrete WT (DWT) and ANN. Simulation results show that the DWT-ANN based receiver is very effective in reducing the effect of multipath induced inter-symbol interference (ISI) and ALI.