Comparison of OFDM and SC-FDE for VLC Systems with a Nonlinear LED Model

Single-carrier frequency domain equalization (SC-FDE) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) are two attractive technologies for visible light communications (VLC). In this paper, we analyze these two schemes in VLC system with direct current (DC) biasing. We investigate the bit error rate (BER) performance of SC-FDE and OFDM schemes with a memory nonlinear light-emitting diode (LED) model in a simulated indoor scenario. The system performance of both schemes and the impact of LED nonlinear distortion are compared and discussed. We found through numerical simulations that the OFDM scheme exhibits a better BER performance compared to the SC-FDE scheme although it has a higher peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR).