Space Shift Keying Modulation in Non-Orthogonal

Multiple Access Hybrid Visible Light

Communication Systems
(Invited Paper)

Amna M. Aljaberi Shimaa A. Naser Paschalis C. Sofotasios Sami Muhaidat

Khalifa University Khalifa University Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE Khalifa University
Abu Dhabi, UAE Abu Dhabi, UAE Tampere University, Tampere, Finland Abu Dhabi, UAE
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract—Visible light communication (VLC) is considered enhanced data rate [1]. An illustration of the OSSK modulation
a breakthrough wireless communication technology that has scheme is illustrated in Figure 1 for the indicative case of four
been proven capable of achieving very high data rates. This light emitting diodes (LEDs). The corresponding functionality
is a key advantage in indoor communication scenarios, since
the vast majority of wireless traffic is witnessed in indoor in this scheme is index-based, where, for example, the infor-
communications. In every wireless system, the trade-off between mation, i.e. the index, 01 refers to the second LED meaning
achievable throughput, transmit signal power and corresponding that the second LED is active.
error rate performance is largely dependent upon the considered Importantly, the distinct characteristic of spatial modulation
modulation format. This is also the case in VLC systems, which is that it makes use of the spatial location of the light
are typically characterized by stringent performance require-
ments. Motivated by this, in the present contribution we introduce emitting diode, which offers a supplementary degree of free-
the space shift keying (SSK) modulation scheme in the context of dom in data modulation leading to a significantly increased
non-orthogonal-multiple-access (NOMA) communications, which efficiency. Based on this, considerable research efforts have
have been shown to be a performance enhancer of indoor based been devoted to quantifying the capabilities and shortcomings
VLC systems. Based on this, all network users in the considered of SSK scheme in optical wireless communications, aiming
set up receive the same superimposed signal of all NOMA
users, which is transmitted from the activated transmitters at achieving enhanced efficiency at moderate, if not simple,
corresponding to the multiplexed SSK users information. Based complexity. To that end, the authors in [2] addressed the
on this and assuming a unique maximum likelihood detection, we performance of SSK in VLC systems, whereas the direct-
quantify the system performance in terms of the corresponding code space shift keying (DC-SSK) modulation scheme was
bit error rate (BER) performance at each receiver. This analysis investigated in [3].
leads to the development of useful insights of theoretical and
practical interest, which are expected to be useful in the effective It is recalled that multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO)
design, implementation and deployment of SSK in NOMA based technology has been applied extensively in emerging wireless
VLC systems. technologies in order to increase the capacity of modern com-
munication systems that are often characterized by stringent
I. I NTRODUCTION quality of service requirements. Motivated by this, MIMO
Visible Light Communication (VLC) is a prospective tech- was addressed in the context of VLC systems in [2], [4], [5],
nique that can significantly increase the efficiency of wireless which, as expected, showed and enhanced spectral efficiency.
data transmission. However, a fundamental drawback lies at The authors in [6] proposed a radio frequency (RF) based
the core of this technique, that the data transmission efficiency scheme that exhibits favorable performance based on super
depends on the light source. Hence, different techniques in positioning of two schemes. In the context of optical wireless
the literature were proposed to increase the spectral efficiency, communications, MIMO in VLC system was addressed in [2]
including different modulation schemes, [1] and the references and in [7], offering useful insights of theoretical and practical
therein. Recalling that sources with low modulation bandwidth importance in indoor communication scenarios.
impose a crucial limitation on the achievable data transmission It is also recalled here that non-orthogonal multiple access
rate, modulation schemes such as the space shift keying (SSK) (NOMA) is a relatively recently proposed multiple access
can be rather effective and efficient. In this modulation scheme, scheme that has been proven capable of providing increased
the information is transmitted by index modulation, which is data rates in demanding wireless scenarios [8], and the ref-
implemented in optical space shift keying (OSSK) and offers erences therein. The distinct characteristic of NOMA is that

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 Fig. 1. Illustration of OSSK for four LEDs [11]

Fig. 2. VLC Channel

the signals of the different involved users are superimposed
in the power domain, which is realized by allocating different II. S YSTEM M ODEL
power levels to each user based on the channel conditions
[8]. Specifically, unlike the classical water-filling approach, We consider a multiple-LED downlink transmitting in a
the highest power level is allocated to the channel with regular indoor setting. The considered LEDs are of dual
the most severe fading conditions and, conversely, the least purpose as they are expected to perform both illumination
power is allocated to the channel with the most favorable and communication functionalities serving U1 SSK user and
fading conditions. Therefore, all users can practically utilize U2 , U3 , · · · , UG NOMA users. Moreover, all users in both
simultaneously the entire bandwidth through power domain systems are assumed to be able to perform a direct detection
superposition coding at the transmitter side, while successive using the photo-detector installed in each user device obtaining
interference cancellation (SIC) is employed at the receivers the transmitted signal from the received carrier. This is essen-
in order to mitigate the corresponding resulting interference. tially realized using unipolar on-off keying (OOK) modulation.
In addition, this multiple access is more suitable for the case Space Shift Keying modulation is utilized for the transmitted
of different communication channels, which is practically the signal to all users. In this context, one LED is active at the time
case in realistic communication scenarios. Finally, it has been of symbol transmission, hence the information is modulated
shown that it overall exhibits a better performance, particularly spatially. The LED transmitter adopts SSK modulation for
in case of high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scenarios [9], [10]. the index corresponding to users U1 , and using fixed power
allocation FPA for exploiting the super-positioning on the
Motivated by the above, the present contribution is con- symbol corresponding to users U2 , U3 , · · · , UG .
cerned with the analysis of SSK modulation in NOMA
based communications in the context of VLC systems. In A. VLC Channel
this context, maximum-likelihood (ML) based decoder at the In indoor VLC settings, as illustrated in Firgure 2, mul-
SSK receiver is introduced, which is based exploiting of tipath delays caused by diffuse refractions and reflections
the pre-knowledge of the superimposed NOMA signals in are typically negligible based on the line of sight (LOS) [8]
order to successfully detect the data symbols and extract the considered in this communication set up [12]. Based on this,
corresponding information at the SSK based receivers. In this the representation of the channel between the user and the
context, it is shown that that additionally to the higher capacity corresponding LED can be represented as follows:
achieved due to the adoption of NOMA, the proposed system
configuration achieves a sufficient performance in terms of the (
Ai
d2i
Ro (ϕi )Ts φi cos(φi )g(φi ), 0 ≤ φi ≤ φc ,
corresponding error rate. Importantly, this does not comes at hi = (1)
an increased complexity cost, which is typically the case in 0, φi > φc ,
demanding emerging communication technologies. where φi is the angle of incidence with respect to the receiver
The remainder of this work is organized as follows: the pro- axis, whereas φc represents the field of view angle (FOV) of
posed system configuration of SSK modulation with a NOMA the photodetector. Likewise, Ts is the gain of the optical filer
based VLC system model is demonstrated in Section II, where and g(φi ) is the gain of the corresponding optical concentrator.
the channel model is also explained. The corresponding results Also, Ai denotes the photodetector PD area at the receiver,
and their analysis are demonstrated in Section III along with i = 1, 2, 3, · · · , N , di represents the distance between the
the development of interesting insights and useful discussions. transmitting LED and the photodetector at the i-th receiver and
Finally, the work is concluded with closing remarks in Section Ro (φi ) is the Lambertian radiant intensity of the transmitting
IV. LEDs, which can be expressed as follows:

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 m+1
Ro (φi ) = cosm (ϕi ) (2)
2π
where m is the order of the Lambertian emission, with φ1/2 ,
denoting the transmitter semi-angle at half power, namely
ln(2)
m=− (3)
ln(cos(ϕ 12 )
with
n2
(
sin2 (φc )
, 0 ≤ φi ≤ φc ,
g φi = (4) Fig. 3. Transmitter
0, φ i > φc
as also presented in [8].
B. Transmission
It is recalled that in the considered set up we assume
that users U2 , U3 , · · · , UG are sorted in an ascending order
corresponding to their channels, i.e. (h1 ≤ h2 ≤ ... ≤ hn ) [8].
Real and non-negative signals (s2 , ..., sG ) each with associated
power value (P2 , ..., PG ), respectively, is transmitted from the
corresponding LED, where each signal is sent to a specific
user. That is that si conveys information intended for user Ui .
Moreover, the superimposition of G transmitted signals in the
power domain is represented as
G
Fig. 4. Receiver
X
x= Pi s i (5)
i=2
Of note, in order to maintain the best reconstruction at
where the total transmitted power from LED is given by the SSK receiver, a positive signal should be considered,As
G a result, signals (s2 , ..., sG ) are mapped from 0, 1 to 13 and
2
3 , respectively.
X
PLED = Pi . (6)
i=2
C. Optimal Detector for SSK user
It is noted that the incurred multiuser interference at U2+k
can be eliminated with the aid of SIC. Depending on this, At the SSK receiver end shown in Figure 4, the signal passes
for each user to decode its own signal, the receiver at U2+k through a unifier where the assumption of SSK user having the
decodes the previous signals and subtract them from the perfect knowledge of the NOMA signal is considered. Also,
received total signal successfully in order to remain with the each symbol is assumed to be scaled by its inverse. Then,
signal intended for itself, while the other signals are treated as SSK users decode their transmitted symbol by establishing an
noise. In the interest to achieve SIC decoding, fixed power estimation of the index of the active transmitting LED. This
allocation FPA is being facilitated. So, the LED allocates estimation is done by employing the ML detection technique.
higher power to users with weak channel gains: In SSK receiver end, only the received signal is considered to
detect the LED index without the need to decode the NOMA
Pi = ρPi−1 (7) signal. In this context, ML detection with respect to channel
gains aspect is considered.
where the power allocation factor ρ is between 0 and 1.
The power associated for the ith sorted user is illustrated in D. Optimal Detector for NOMA users
Fig. 3. The user with high channel gain is allocated with lower
power to successfully decode the desired signal, while the As already mentioned, the weak user in power NOMA is as-
signals with lower decoding order which are allocated higher signed a greater power using FPA. Therefore, the receiver end
power, have been decoded and subtracted beforehand as a first first sorted signal is decoded without the need to eliminate and
step [8]. To this effect, the received signal is represented as interference due to the high-power factor it has been assigned.
follows Users after that need to eliminate multi-user interference with
the aid of the employed SIC. To that end, for the user Uk
G
X to decode its dedicated signal successfully, it needs to decode
yk = γhk Pi s i + n k (8) all other users signals (that has lower order (1 to k-1)) and
i=2 subtract them. This results to the signal for Uk user, while

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 TABLE I
PARAMETERS U SED IN S IMULATION

Description Notation Value

LED Power PLED 0.25 W
Transmitter Semi-angle ϕi 50 deg
FOV of PDs φci 45 deg
Area of PD Ai 1 cm2
Refracted Index of PD lens n 1.5
Gain of optical filter Ts φli 1

Fig. 6. First NOMA User With Different ρ

Fig. 5. BER performance of the System

the corresponding residual interference of other users is rather

insignificant and so is treated as noise [8].
III. N UMERICAL R ESULTS
This section analyzes the achievable BER performance of a
SSK-NOMA based VLC downlink scenario for the considered
set up and channel conditions. Without the loss of generality,
we consider an indoor room with dimensions of 4m × 4m Fig. 7. Second NOMA User With Different ρ
× 3m with 4 transmitting LEDs placed at (2.2, 2.2, 3), (1.8,
2.2, 3), (1.8, 1.8, 3) and (2.2, 1.8, 3). Moreover, we assume
one SSK user and two NOMA users in the area covered by as seen in Figure 6. In the same context, Figs. 6 and Fig 7
the transmission range of the LED. It is noteworthy that the demonstrate the corresponding BER performance as a function
number of users mentioned in the analyzed scenario is solely of ρ. Evidently, the best performance is observed that the best
indicative. As already mentioned, the considered system is performance for NOMA is when ρ either 0.1 - 0.13. Finally,
general and can be applied for any number of users. From this the the performance of NOMA was analyzed in [8], where it
perspective, the LED superimpose a NOMA signal for two showed an optimal performance for certain values of ρ.
users with allocated power values to each user respectively,
spatially to SSK user as the same time. Where one LED is IV. C ONCLUSION
actively transmitting the signal at an instant, encoding its index This work inverstigated the BER performance in a downlink
to SSK user and the superimposed NOMA signal. The system VLC network in the context of NOMA with SSK modulation.
parameters values are depicted in Table I. It was shown that SSK modulation in VLC exhibits adequate
The corresponding performance is evaluated with respect to performance and a moderate system complexity. Furthermore,
the SNR transmitted from transmitting LEDs, for the purpose the offered results quantified the effect of different ρ values on
of taking into account the path gain of each individual user. the overall system performance and insights were developed. It
The corresponding BER performance of SSK user is shown was also shown that the low complexity and high performance
in Figure 6. It is noted here that the BER performance of of the considered hybrid renders it a suitable option for
NOMA users is analyzed for different values of ρ (between effective communication scenarios in the context of emerging
0 and 1), with the best performance achieved for ρ = 0.1 wireless technologies.

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