Optimization of Slot Allocation in Hybrid VLC/RF Networks for Throughput Maximization

Abstract

In this paper, we optimize the slot allocation for uplink communication in a network comprising multiple VLC based access points (APs) and an RF-AP in an indoor environment. Instead of connecting a node to either a single VLC-AP or an RF-AP, node exploits the resources of multiple APs. An optimization problem is formulated for the allocation of these resources with the objective of increasing the overall network throughput. As a result, we get a resource allocation scheme that utilize multiple VLC and RF APs (MV + RF), in contrast to previous schemes that optimize resource allocation utilizing the resources of a single VLC and use RF for overloaded traffic, namely (SV O RF). We compare the performance of the proposed (MV + RF ) with (SV O RF) and (MV O RF) in which a node is assigned resources from multiple VLC-APs and RF-AP is utilized only for overloaded traffic. The results demonstrate that the proposed scheme outperforms other schemes both at the node and the network level and achieves on average 26 to 35% improved throughput over different parameter settings.