Using static objects for passive communication with sunlight

Title

Using static objects for passive communication with sunlight

 Author

Pai, Chaitra (TU Delft Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)

Contributor

Langendoen, K.G. (graduation committee) ORCID 0000-0003-4996-3695
Adam, A.J.L. (graduation committee) ORCID 0000-0002-6727-946X
Zuniga, Marco (mentor) ORCID 0000-0003-3544-9169

 Degree granting institution

Delft University of Technology

 Programme

Electrical Engineering | Embedded Systems

 Date

2018-08-30

 Abstract

The idea of having a smart environment to automate day to day tasks appeals to us all. To enable this, we need objects with embedded electronics to communicate with each other in a network known as the Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT communication infrastructure is built on top of existing Radio Frequency (RF) technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), WiFi, and cellular protocols. The RF technology is bandlimited and power hungry, making it unfeasible to support the growing demand of IoT networks. The number of IoT devices in the year 2020 is expected to be around 20 billion, making it essential to explore other areas of sustainable communication technology. Visible light communication (VLC) in the optical domain is being explored to meet the surge in connected devices and to enable sustainability in the energy consumed. The idea behind a VLC system is to toggle a Light Emitting Diode (LED) at high speed to transmit information which ensures that users are not subjected to visual interruptions. Even sunlight - the biggest source of illumination - can be used to transmit information. However, it is not possible to toggle the sun like LEDs. Hence, the objective of this thesis is to use sunlight to setup a green communication channel. In the 1800s, sunlight was used to communicate over long distances by using mirrors to reflect light to send signals. Taking inspiration from this method, I propose using smart materials to toggle sunlight and use it for wireless communication. My aim in this thesis is to analyze the behavior of smart materials, develop a modulation scheme suitable to send information using sunlight, and evaluate the system's performance.

 Subject

Liquid crystal shutter
Sunlight
Communication

 To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:36d736ca-61c4-4755-93ff-c328c8c94089

 Embargo date

2019-08-30

 Part of collection

Student theses

 Document type

master thesis

 Rights

© 2018 Chaitra Pai
Files
PDF MSc_Thesis_Chaitra_Pai.pdf 11.82 MB
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