SNIR predictions for on-aircraft VLC systems

This work reports a set of preliminary predictions of the Signal-to-Noise-plus-Interference Ratio (SNIR) of a Visible Light Communication (VLC) system inside an airplane cabin devoted to provide high-speed Internet access to air travelers. Different conditions of signal sources, noise and interference have been addressed, making use of an in-house developed Modified Monte Carlo (MMCA) ray tracer simulator. The results show that the SNIR is essentially affected only by the interfering sources from the side seat row, while solar noise and other lightings have a relatively low impact. Moreover, we observed that also VLC links using white phosphorescent LED sources are feasible, allowing systems with unity wavelength reuse factor.