A Scanning-Based Indoor Optical Wireless Positioning System with Single VCSEL

TL;DR

This work tackles indoor visible-light positioning (VLP) using a single VCSEL to achieve 3D localisation without multiple transmitters. It employs a timed scan of $M$ beams across azimuth and elevation with 1° resolution, synchronised with the receiver, and estimates distance by inverting $P_r = y_{\hat{k}}$ to produce $\hat{d}$, giving $\hat{\mathbf{p}}=\mathbf{p}_s+\hat{d}\,\hat{\mathbf{u}}_{\hat{k}}$. A Laplace orientation model draws azimuth and elevation angles from $f(x|\mu,b) = \frac{1}{2b} \exp\left(-\frac{|x-\mu|}{b}\right)$ and converts them to a 3D orientation vector, capturing realistic device pose variations. In simulations in a $1{\rm m}\times1{\rm m}\times3{\rm m}$ room, the approach achieves sub-centimetre accuracy for fixed orientations but shows orientation-induced degradation, highlighting the value of orientation-aware techniques and potential for future multi-user and real-time extensions.

Abstract

This paper presents a novel indoor visible light positioning (VLP) system utilising one vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser installed at the ceiling centre of a space. The system offers three-dimensional localisation by sweeping through space at one-degree resolution in two dimensions (azimuth and elevation), significantly simplifying hardware. Through incorporating the angle of arrival and received signal strength, this system demonstrates excellent precision in indoor positioning. Simulation results verify that the system attains sub-centimetre precision for most test points, outperforming conventional multi-transmitter VLP schemes in cost-efficiency and simplicity.

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: System model of an indoor single-vcsel vlp system with one user
• Figure 2: The angles of the positioning system
• Figure 3: A demonstration of the user device orientation angles
• Figure 4: CDF of position error with fixed receiver orientation.
• Figure 5: CDF of position error with random receiver orientation.