Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access for Hybrid VLC-RF Networks with Imperfect Channel State Information

Abstract: The present contribution proposes a general framework for the energy efficiency analysis of a hybrid visible light communication (VLC) and Radio Frequency (RF) wireless system, in which both VLC and RF subsystems utilize nonorthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technology. The proposed framework is based on realistic communication scenarios as it takes into account the mobility of users, and assumes imperfect channel-state information (CSI). In this context, tractable closed-form expressions are derived for the corresponding average sum rate of NOMA-VLC and its orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-VLC counterparts. It is shown extensively that incurred CSI errors have a considerable impact on the average energy efficiency of both NOMA-VLC and OFDMAVLC systems and hence, they should not be neglected in practical designs and deployments. Interestingly, we further demonstrate that the average energy efficiency of the hybrid NOMA-VLCRF system outperforms NOMA-VLC system under imperfect CSI. Respective computer simulations corroborate the derived analytic results and interesting theoretical and practical insights are provided, which will be useful in the effective design and deployment of conventional VLC and hybrid VLC-RF systems.