Visible light communication system and method

1. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one visible light output device;

communication interface circuitry;

physical layer interface circuitry operatively coupled to the at least one visible light output device and to the communication interface circuitry;

timing circuitry operatively coupled to the physical layer interface circuitry;

visible light communication (VLC) control circuitry operatively coupled to the physical layer interface circuitry and to the timing circuitry, the VLC control circuitry to:

periodically cycle the at least one visible light output device through a plurality of sequential operating cycles, each of the plurality of sequential operating cycles including an illuminated portion and a non-illuminated portion based on a timing signal provided by the timing circuitry;

synchronize the non-illuminated cycle portion with at least one other controlled device using the timing signal;

generate a message responsive to receipt of a command from a remote-control device via the communication interface circuitry;

communicate the message to the at least one other controlled device using VLC, the message communicated during the non-illuminated cycle portion of a first of the plurality of operating cycles; and

communicate an acknowledgement message to the remote-control device responsive to receipt of the command from the remote-control device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the communication interface circuitry includes at least one visible light input device; and

wherein to generate the output message responsive to receipt of the command from the remote-control device, the VLC control circuitry to further:

generate the output message responsive to receipt of the command communicated from the remote-control device using VLC.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one visible light output device includes at least one light-emitting diode (LED), the at least one LED capable of producing a luminous output during the illuminated portion of each operating cycle and capable of producing an output signal representative of a level of received incident illumination during the non-illuminated portion of each operating cycle.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controlled device further comprises memory circuitry communicatively coupled to the VLC control circuitry; and

wherein to communicate the message to the at least one other controlled device during the non-illuminated portion of the first of the plurality of operating cycles, the VLC control circuitry to further:

store the received command in the memory circuitry; and

communicate the message to the at least one other controlled device via VLC during the non-illuminated portion of a second of the plurality of operating cycles.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the communication interface circuitry includes radio frequency (RF) communication interface circuitry; and

wherein to generate the message responsive to receipt of the command from the remote-control device, the VLC control circuitry to further:

receive from the remote-control device a radio frequency signal that includes data representative of the command; and

convert the data representative of the command included in the RF signal to a VLC message.

6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the timing circuitry comprises phase-locked loop (PLL) circuitry synchronized to a frequency of an alternating current voltage supply to the apparatus.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein to communicate the acknowledgement message to the remote-control device, the VLC control circuitry to further:

receive, during a non-illuminated portion of a first of the plurality of operating cycles, a VLC acknowledgement message from the at least one other controlled device;

convert the received VLC acknowledgement message to an RF acknowledgement message; and

communicate, via the communication interface circuitry, the RF acknowledgement message to the remote-control device.

8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein to communicate the acknowledgement message to the remote-control device, the VLC control circuitry to further:

receive, during a non-illuminated portion of a first of the plurality of operating cycles, a VLC acknowledgement message from the at least one other controlled device; and

communicate, during a non-illuminated portion of a second of the plurality of operating cycles, the received VLC acknowledgement message to the remote-control device.

9. A visible light communication (VLC) controller to provide VLC communication capabilities in a controlled device, the controller comprising:

processor circuitry to:

periodically cycle at least one visible light output device through a plurality of sequential operating cycles, each of the plurality of sequential operating cycles including an illuminated portion and a non-illuminated portion based on a timing signal provided by timing circuitry;

synchronize the non-illuminated cycle portion with one or more other VLC controllers using the timing signal;

generate a message responsive to receipt of a command from a remote-control device via communicatively coupled interface circuitry;

communicate the message to the at least one other VLC controller using VLC, the message communicated during the non-illuminated cycle portion of a first of the plurality of operating cycles; and

communicate an acknowledgement message to the remote-control device responsive to receipt of the command from the remote-control device.

10. The VLC controller of claim 9 , wherein to communicate the message to the at least one other VLC controller during the non-illuminated portion of the first of the plurality of operating cycles, the processor circuitry to further:

store data representative of the received command in communicatively coupled memory circuitry; and

communicate the message to the at least one other VLC controller using VLC during the non-illuminated portion of a second of the plurality of operating cycles.

11. The VLC controller of claim 9 , wherein to generate the message responsive to receipt of the command from the remote-control device, the processor circuitry to further:

receive from the remote-control device via the communicatively coupled interface circuitry, a radio frequency signal that includes data representative of the command; and

convert the data representative of the command included in the RF signal to the VLC message.

12. The VLC controller of claim 9 , wherein to periodically cycle the at least one visible light output device through the plurality of sequential operating cycles based on a timing signal provided by timing circuitry, the processor circuitry to further:

periodically cycle the at least one visible light output device through the plurality of sequential operating cycles based on a timing signal provided by communicatively coupled phase-locked loop (PLL) circuitry synchronized to a frequency of an alternating current voltage supply.

13. The VLC controller of claim 9 , wherein to communicate the acknowledgement message to the remote-control device, the processor circuitry to further:

receive, during a non-illuminated portion of a first of the plurality of operating cycles, data representative of a VLC acknowledgement message communicated by the at least one other VLC controller;

convert the received VLC acknowledgement message to an RF acknowledgement message; and

cause a communication, via the interface circuitry, of the RF acknowledgement message to the remote-control device.

14. The VLC controller of claim 9 , wherein to communicate the acknowledgement message to the remote-control device, the processor circuitry to further:

receive, during a non-illuminated portion of a first of the plurality of operating cycles, data representative of a VLC acknowledgement message communicated by the at least one other VLC controller; and

cause a communication, during a non-illuminated portion of a second of the plurality of operating cycles, of the received VLC acknowledgement message to the remote-control device.