IEC 62943:2017

IEC 62943 ®
Edition 1.0 2017-03
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
Visible light beacon system for multimedia applications

Système de balise de lumière visible pour applications multimédias

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

Droits de reproduction réservés. Sauf indication contraire, aucune partie de cette publication ne peut être reproduite
ni utilisée sous quelque forme que ce soit et par aucun procédé, électronique ou mécanique, y compris la photocopie
et les microfilms, sans l'accord écrit de l'IEC ou du Comité national de l'IEC du pays du demandeur. Si vous avez des
questions sur le copyright de l'IEC ou si vous désirez obtenir des droits supplémentaires sur cette publication, utilisez
les coordonnées ci-après ou contactez le Comité national de l'IEC de votre pays de résidence.

IEC Central Office Tel.: +41 22 919 02 11
3, rue de Varembé Fax: +41 22 919 03 00
CH-1211 Geneva 20 info@iec.ch
Switzerland www.iec.ch
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigenda or an amendment might have been published.

IEC Catalogue - webstore.iec.ch/catalogue Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
The stand-alone application for consulting the entire The world's leading online dictionary of electronic and
bibliographical information on IEC International Standards, electrical terms containing 20 000 terms and definitions in
Technical Specifications, Technical Reports and other English and French, with equivalent terms in 16 additional
documents. Available for PC, Mac OS, Android Tablets and languages. Also known as the International Electrotechnical
iPad. Vocabulary (IEV) online.

IEC publications search - www.iec.ch/searchpub IEC Glossary - std.iec.ch/glossary
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a 65 000 electrotechnical terminology entries in English and
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical French extracted from the Terms and Definitions clause of
committee,…). It also gives information on projects, replaced IEC publications issued since 2002. Some entries have been
and withdrawn publications. collected from earlier publications of IEC TC 37, 77, 86 and

CISPR.
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc
details all new publications released. Available online and If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or
also once a month by email. need further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: csc@iec.ch.
A propos de l'IEC
La Commission Electrotechnique Internationale (IEC) est la première organisation mondiale qui élabore et publie des
Normes internationales pour tout ce qui a trait à l'électricité, à l'électronique et aux technologies apparentées.

A propos des publications IEC
Le contenu technique des publications IEC est constamment revu. Veuillez vous assurer que vous possédez l’édition la
plus récente, un corrigendum ou amendement peut avoir été publié.

Catalogue IEC - webstore.iec.ch/catalogue Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
Application autonome pour consulter tous les renseignements
Le premier dictionnaire en ligne de termes électroniques et
bibliographiques sur les Normes internationales,
électriques. Il contient 20 000 termes et définitions en anglais
Spécifications techniques, Rapports techniques et autres
et en français, ainsi que les termes équivalents dans 16
documents de l'IEC. Disponible pour PC, Mac OS, tablettes
langues additionnelles. Egalement appelé Vocabulaire
Android et iPad.
Electrotechnique International (IEV) en ligne.

Recherche de publications IEC - www.iec.ch/searchpub
Glossaire IEC - std.iec.ch/glossary
65 000 entrées terminologiques électrotechniques, en anglais
La recherche avancée permet de trouver des publications IEC
en utilisant différents critères (numéro de référence, texte, et en français, extraites des articles Termes et Définitions des
comité d’études,…). Elle donne aussi des informations sur les publications IEC parues depuis 2002. Plus certaines entrées
projets et les publications remplacées ou retirées. antérieures extraites des publications des CE 37, 77, 86 et

CISPR de l'IEC.
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished

Service Clients - webstore.iec.ch/csc
Restez informé sur les nouvelles publications IEC. Just
Published détaille les nouvelles publications parues. Si vous désirez nous donner des commentaires sur cette
Disponible en ligne et aussi une fois par mois par email. publication ou si vous avez des questions contactez-nous:
csc@iec.ch.
IEC 62943 ®
Edition 1.0 2017-03
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
colour
inside
Visible light beacon system for multimedia applications

Système de balise de lumière visible pour applications multimédias

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ISBN 978-2-8322-4016-8
ICS 33.160.60; 35.100.10
– 2 – IEC 62943:2017  IEC 2017
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 System outline . 7
4.1 Interface points and protocol rules . 7
4.2 Functions . 9
5 Physical layer . 9
5.1 Wavelength . 9
5.2 Data rate . 9
5.3 Data transmission system . 9
5.4 Spurious . 10
6 Frame layer . 10
6.1 Single frame transmission . 10
6.1.1 Frame structure . 10
6.1.2 Preamble (PRE). 10
6.1.3 ID length (IDLEN) . 11
6.1.4 ID type (IDTYPE) . 11
6.1.5 CRC . 11
6.2 Multiple frames transmission . 11
6.2.1 Frame structure . 11
6.2.2 Preamble (PRE). 12
6.2.3 Sequence number (SEQNO) . 13
6.2.4 Partition type (PTYPE) . 13
6.2.5 BODY . 14
6.2.6 CRC . 14
6.3 Idle pattern . 15
7 Measurement method . 15
Annex A (normative) Code management concerning frame type, ID and DATA . 16
Annex B (informative) Background, application examples, and safety . 17
B.1 General . 17
B.2 Background of this standard . 17
B.3 Application examples . 17
B.3.1 General . 17
B.3.2 Multimedia applications utilizing positional information . 17
B.3.3 Application in public spaces . 17
B.3.4 Cooperation with other services . 18
B.3.5 Application to setting of equipment . 18
B.3.6 Application to AV and multimedia devices . 18
B.3.7 Application to entertainment . 18
B.4 Safety . 18
Annex C (informative) Purpose, justification, possible applications, and installation
examples . 19
C.1 Purpose . 19
C.2 Justification . 19
C.3 Possible applications . 19

C.3.1 Genereal . 19
C.3.2 Visible light beacon system for multimedia devices receiving location-
dependent advertisement multimedia information from digital signage . 19
C.3.3 Visible light beacon system for guiding and navigation system. 20
C.3.4 Visible light beacon system for multimedia devices receiving multimedia
information from a TV backlight . 20
C.4 Installation examples . 21
C.4.1 General . 21
C.4.2 Visible light beacon system for indoor navigation for the visually
impaired (february 2012) . 21
C.4.3 Visible light beacon system for indoor smartphone users (april 2013) . 21
Bibliography . 23

Figure 1 – Visible light beacon system for multimedia applications. 7
Figure 2 – Visible light beacon system for multimedia applications: structure and
interface point . 8
Figure 3 – I-4PPM signal waveform . 9
Figure 4 – I-4PPM Slot and Symbol . 10
Figure 5 – Frame structure for single frame transmission . 10
Figure 6 – Preamble for single frame transmission . 11
Figure 7 – Frame structure for a multiple frames transmission . 12
Figure 8 – Body field in Single frame compatible mode . 14
Figure C.1 – Visible light beacon system for multimedia devices receiving location-
dependent advertisement multimedia information from digital signage . 19
Figure C.2 – Visible light beacon system for guiding and navigation system . 20
Figure C.3 – Visible light beacon system for multimedia devices receiving multimedia
information from a TV backlight . 20
Figure C.4 – Visible light beacon system for indoor navigation for the visually impaired . 21
Figure C.5 – Visible light beacon system for indoor smartphone users . 22

Table 1 – ID length . 11
Table 2 – Length of CRC and generator polynomial . 11
Table 3 – Possible length of concatenated data . 12
Table 4 – Preambles for multiple frames transmission . 13
Table 5 – Sequence number . 13
Table 6 – Partition type . 14
Table 7 – Field composition for each length of ID/DATA in Single frame compatible
mode . 14

– 4 – IEC 62943:2017  IEC 2017
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
VISIBLE LIGHT BEACON SYSTEM FOR MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote
international co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To
this end and in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications,
Technical Reports, Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as "IEC
Publication(s)"). Their preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested
in the subject dealt with may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-
governmental organizations liaising with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely
with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by
agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence
between any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in
the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this IEC Publication may be the subject of
patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 62943 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 100: Audio,
video and multimedia systems and equipment.
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
100/2850/FDIS 100/2857/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC website under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
IMPORTANT – The 'colour inside' logo on the cover page of this publication indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct
understanding of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a
colour printer.
– 6 – IEC 62943:2017  IEC 2017
VISIBLE LIGHT BEACON SYSTEM FOR MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS

1 Scope
This International Standard aims at establishing a unified standard concerning the lower
communication layer common to multimedia applications, and does not deal with the upper
communication layer which depends upon individual applications.
This document specifies a unidirectional visible light communication protocol using visible
light, named "visible light beacon system for multimedia applications". This document does
not specify the type of receivers. Dimming can be done by such methods as pulse width
control or amplitude control, but the dimming is out of the scope of this document.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their
content constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition
cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including
any amendments) applies.
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
• IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/
• ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
visible light beacon transmitter
transmitter utilizing visible light beacon of visible light transmission standard
3.2
visible light beacon receiver
receiver utilizing visible light beacon of visible light transmission standard
3.3
visible light beacon system
unidirectional beacon system utilizing visible light as its carrier
3.4
ID resolution
resolution of information related to the ID
3.5
ID resolution server
server capable of ID resolution from inquired ID

3.6
carrier
signal consisting of a visible light in the case of visible light communication for transmission of
information through (wired or wireless) communication media
3.7
modulation
processing and transforming of a carrier according to information in order to enable the
information to be transmitted efficiently and correctly through communication media
3.8
frame
assembly of information continued for a certain length of time
3.9
preamble
signal to inform reception side about preparation and time position of start of the frame
3.10
communication protocol
set of rules decided for mutual communication between transmitters and receivers
3.11
encode
adapting the transmitted data array to be consistent with the transmission protocol
4 System outline
4.1 Interface points and protocol rules
The IF-a (interface point a) part in the visible light beacon system in Figure 1 shall be used.
Visible light
beacon
transmitter
IF-a
Visible light
beacon receiver
IEC
Figure 1 – Visible light beacon system for multimedia applications
Figures 2 a), b), c) and d) represent interface standard points between system structure
figures and element systems of visible light beacon system for multimedia applications.
• Figure 2 a) is the whole structure (standard structure) of most common visible light beacon
system for multimedia applications. The visible light beacon receiver sends the beacon
received from a visible light beacon transmitter to an ID resolution server, obtains the
address of the information providing server where target information exists, and obtains
the target information from the information providing server using the address.

– 8 – IEC 62943:2017  IEC 2017
• Figure 2 b) is the system structure (degeneracy system structure 1) for obtaining target
information by implementing ID resolution in the beacon receiver, referring to ID resolution
table incorporated in the visible light beacon receiver, and directly accessing the
information providing server based on the result.
• Figure 2 c) is the system structure (degeneracy system structure 2) for preliminarily
caching target information, in addition to ID resolution table, in the visible light beacon
receiver, and directly indicating the selected target information based on the received
beacon.
• Figure 2 d) is the system structure (direct information delivery structure) for the visible
light beacon receiver to directly receive delivery of target information itself from visible
light beacon transmitter.
The interface point a common to Figure 2 a) to 2 d) shall be used.

Visible light Visible light
beacon beacon
transmitter transmitter
ID
IF-b
resolution
server
IF-a IF-a
ID
URL
URL
Information Information
Visible light
Visible light
providing providing
beacon receiver
beacon receiver
server server
Information
Information
IF-c
IF-c
IEC
IEC
a) Standard structure b) Degeneracy system structure 1
Visible light Visible light
beacon beacon
transmitter transmitter
IF-a
IF-a
Visible light Visible light
Cache
beacon
beacon within
receiver
receiver
receiver
IEC
IEC
c) Degeneracy system structure 2 d) Direct information delivery structure
Figure 2 – Visible light beacon system for multimedia applications:
structure and interface point
All the system structures above assume that there is one visible light beacon transmitter. If
there are multiple light sources and the visible light beacon receiver receives signals from
multiple light sources at the same time, it can cause interference. The interference problem
can be solved by aligning the optics of a transmitter and a receiver. However, the alignment is
outside the scope of this document.

4.2 Functions
The visible light beacon transmitter can transmit information. The transmitted information can
be either arbitrary data or an ID code. The ID code system used is selectable, and various
services can be provided or enjoyed through ID resolution (drawing information related to ID).
5 Physical layer
5.1 Wavelength
The wavelength of the system optical output shall be in the visible range with peak
wavelength from 380 nm to 780 nm.
5.2 Data rate
Data rate shall be 4,8 kb/s with tolerance of ±0,5 %.
5.3 Data transmission system
The transmission system for modulation of visible light should use Inverted 4PPM encoding.
Such a modulation method is called I-4PPM (Inverted 4PPM). Figure 3 shows I-4PPM signal
waveform. Although the signal is represented by square wave, actually waveform shaping is
required to comply with spurious rules as individual electronic instruments. The same applies
to Figure 4.
The bit ordering of the transmitted data after preamble is LSB (least significant bit) first,
meaning that the least significant bit is transmitted first.
Transmission order: last
Transmission order: first
Data   0(LSB) 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
4PPM signal
1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Bright
Dark
IEC
Figure 3 – I-4PPM signal waveform
With waveform intensities a and b shown in Figure 3, signal amplitude and modulation index
are defined as below.
signal amplitude = b – a
modulation index = (b – a)/b
The 4PPM encoding system distributes evenly a specific length of time defined as symbol
time (D ) to 4 slots (C ), it converts a pulse of 1 slot width in 1 symbol time, and transmits
1 1
information of 2 bits assigned to existing slot time position of the pulse. Encoding rule of slot
time position are illustrated in Figure 4. For example:
Symbol time D = 2 × (1/4 800) = 0,416 ms
Slot time C = D / 4 = 0,104 ms

1 1
a
b
– 10 – IEC 62943:2017  IEC 2017

Data 0 (LSB) 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
I-4PPM signal 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Slot
(C1)
2 bit = 1 symbol = 4 slot
Symbol (D1)
IEC
Figure 4 – I-4PPM Slot and Symbol
5.4 Spurious
The details of this item are defined in each application standard. For example, visible light
beacon transmitters using LED lighting systems should be defined in electrical spurious
standard for lighting equipment.

6 Frame layer
6.1 Single frame transmission
6.1.1 Frame structure
Figure 5 shows a frame structure for a single frame transmission. The frame consists of
preamble (PRE), ID length (IDLEN), ID type (IDTYPE), ID and/or data (ID/DATA), and cyclic
redundancy code (CRC) fields.
PRE IDLEN IDTYPE ID / DATA CRC
6 bit 3 bit 5 bit variable length variable length
Start of frame Body End of frame
IEC
Figure 5 – Frame structure for single frame transmission
6.1.2 Preamble (PRE)
The pattern of "1" in three sequential slots followed by nine "0" slots, which does not occur by
I-4PPM encode of data, is set as a preamble for single frame transmission as shown in
Figure 6.
Transmission order: first Last
1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bright
Dark
3 symbols length (= 6 bit)
IEC
Figure 6 – Preamble for single frame transmission
6.1.3 ID length (IDLEN)
The IDLEN field indicates the length of the following ID/DATA field as shown in Table 1.
Table 1 – ID length
IDLEN [bit] Length of ID/DATA [bit]
[MSB] 000 [LSB] reserved
001 32
010 64
011 128
100 256
101 512
110 1 024
111 reserved
6.1.4 ID type (IDTYPE)
The IDTYPE field indicates how the information in the ID/DATA field should be parsed. When
the IDTYPE value is 0, the ID type is a default type which does not require the access to a
server. On the other hand, when the IDTYPE value is not 0, a server may be accessed to
obtain necessary information.
6.1.5 CRC
The CRC field checks IDLEN, IDTYPE, and ID/DATA fields. The length of the CRC field
depends on length of bits to be checked as shown in Table 2. Since visible light beacon
system for multimedia applications uses a unidirectional communication, incapable of
submitting re-transmission requests, received data is discarded if errors are detected.
Table 2 – Length of CRC and generator polynomial
Length to be checked Length of CRC Generator polynomial
≤ 16 8 X8+X7+X6+X4+X2+1
≤ 64 12 X12+X11+X3+X2+X+1
≤ 256 16 X16+X15+X2+1
> 256 24 X24+X23+X18+X17+X14+X11+X10+X7+X6+X5+X4+X3+X+1

6.2 Multiple frames transmission
6.2.1 Frame structure
Information may be transmitted with multiple frames. Figure 7 shows the frame structure for a
multiple frames transmission.
– 12 – IEC 62943:2017  IEC 2017

Concatenated data
CRC
PTYPE
BODY
variable length
2 bit
variable length
Divide into multiple parts
DATAPART DATAPART DATAPART
SEQNO
PRE DATAPART
4 bit
6 bit variable length
One frame
IEC
Figure 7 – Frame structure for a multiple frames transmission
Multiple frames transmission has two types (PTYPE) of BODY modes: "Single frame
compatible" and "Data stream". The BODY of "Single frame compatible" type for multiple
frames transmission contains a frame that is compatible with a single frame transmission. On
the other hand, the BODY of "Data stream" type for multiple frames transmission contains
arbitrary data stream.
Possible length of concatenated data is shown in Table 3. The numbers with underlines in
Table 3 indicate the length of the concatenated data in "Single frame compatible" mode.
Table 3 – Possible length of concatenated data
Number Length of DATAPART [bit]
of frames
4 8 16 32 64
4 8 16 32 64
2 8 16 32 64 128
3 12 24 48 96 192
4 16 32 64 128 256
5 20 40 80 160 320
24 48 96 192 384
7 28 56 112 224 448
8 32 64 128 256 512
9 36 72 144 288 576
10 40 80 160 320 640
44 88 176 352 704
12 48 96 192 384 768
13 52
104 208 416 832
14 56
112 224 448 896
15 60
120 240 480 960
64 128 256 512 1 024
6.2.2 Preamble (PRE)
The PRE field for multiple frames transmission indicates length of the following DATAPART
field and whether or not the following SEQNO field indicates the last sequence number as
shown in Table 4. All of the PRE fields are distinguishable from any other fields by I-4PPM
encoding rule violation.
Table 4 – Preambles for multiple frames transmission

Length of
PRE [slot]
DATAPART [bit]
Not last sequence number
Last sequence number
Transmission order: first last Transmission order: first last

1  0  1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0 0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  0  1

Bright Bright
Dark Dark
1  0  0  1  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0 0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0  1  1
Bright Bright
Dark Dark
0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  0  0  1
1  1  0  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0
Bright Bright
Dark Dark
1  0  1  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0 0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  1  1
Bright
Bright
Dark
Dark
1  1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0 0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  0  1

Bright Bright
Dark
Dark
6.2.3 Sequence number (SEQNO)
The SEQNO field indicates a sequence number of the following DATAPART field as shown in
Table 5.
Table 5 – Sequence number
SEQNO [bit] Sequence number of DATAPART
[MSB] 0000 [LSB] 0
0001 1
0010 2
0011 3
0100 4
0101 5
0110 6
0111 7
1000 8
1001 9
1010 10
1011 11
1100 12
1101 13
1110 14
1111 15
6.2.4 Partition type (PTYPE)
The PTYPE field indicates the types of BODY field as shown in Table 6.

– 14 – IEC 62943:2017  IEC 2017
Table 6 – Partition type
PTYPE [bit] Partition type of BODY
[MSB] 00 [LSB] Single frame compatible
01 Data stream
10 reserved
11 reserved
6.2.5 BODY
In the case that PTYPE is Single frame compatible, the BODY field consists of the ID/DATA
length (IDLEN), ID type (IDTYPE), ID/DATA, and PADDING fields as shown in Figure 8. The
IDLEN indicates the length of the following ID/DATA field as shown in Table 1. The IDTYPE
indicates how the following ID/DATA field should be parsed. The rest of the BODY field is
filled by the PADDING field.
BODY
IDLEN IDTYPE ID/DATA
PADDING
3 bit 5 bit variable length
IEC
Figure 8 – Body field in Single frame compatible mode
Table 7 shows the possible combination of the number of frames and length of DATAPART for
transmitting each length of ID/DATA. The same ID/DATA in the same IDTYPE has the same
meaning regardless of single/multiple frame transmission or different combinations of the
number of frames and length of DATAPART.
Table 7 – Field composition for each length of ID/DATA
in Single frame compatible mode
Length of
Number of DATAPART Concatenated IDLEN IDTYPE CRC PADDING
ID/DATA
frames [bit] data [bit] [bit] [bit] [bit] [bit]
[bit]
7 8
32 56 3 5 12 2
14 4
6 16
64 96 3 5 16 6
12 8
5 32
160 3 5 16 6
10 16
5 64
256 320 3 5 24 30
10 32
9 64 576 3 5 24 30
In the case that PTYPE is Data stream, all combination of the number of frames and length of
DATAPART can be used, and the whole BODY field is regarded as a data stream.
6.2.6 CRC
The CRC field checks the PTYPE and BODY fields. The CRC code verifies that accumulated
frames are transmitted from the same transmitter as well as checks for bit errors. The length
of the CRC and generator polynomials are shown in Table 2.

6.3 Idle pattern
Down-times between frames are free. However, shortening of information acquisition time is
desirable since, in case terminals are held by humans, reception in about 0,03 second per
frame is possible when a frame is repeated.
In the case of burst transmission with breaks between frames, it is recommended either to
insert "1000" data sequentially in the I-4PPM form to fill the down-times in order to prevent
flickering of light source, or to set the signal level in frame transmission down-time at the
average value of signal level during frame transmission time:
b’ = a + 3b/4
NOTE Refer to 5.3 for a and b levels of signal waveform.
7 Measurement method
In visible light communication, measurement under predetermined measurement conditions
shall be carried out in order to obtain characteristic values of light emitting elements and light
receiving elements or in order to confirm if given requirement is satisfied. Specific
measurement conditions are for future study.

– 16 – IEC 62943:2017  IEC 2017
Annex A
(normative)
Code management concerning frame type, ID and DATA
Global scale-integrated continuous issuance and management of codes concerning frame
type, ID and DATA, are necessary in order to secure freedom of installation of visible light
beacon transmitters and transfer of receiver terminals, and to respond to expansion of use
applications. For this purpose, establishment of management policy of these codes and fair
registration and publication of the codes are necessary. That information is available at
http://home.jeita.or.jp/cgi-bin/page/detail.cgi?n=909&ca=14 .

Annex B
(informative)
Background, application examples, and safety
B.1 General
This annex explains matters described in the main body and related matters, and is only an
informative part of this document.
B.2 Background of this standard
This document prescribes a communication method utilizing unidirectional visible light beacon
system for multimedia applications. Visible light beacon system for multimedia applications is
a system for providing various applications exemplified in Clause B.3 such as: (1)
identification of objects, (2) providing positional information, and (3) establishment of various
guiding systems by radiation transmission of simple information or ID information unique to
the visible light sources ubiquitously surrounding us. Although system structures have been
conventionally discussed by individual applications, necessity of a protocol commonly
utilizable for any application, on assumption that it will be widely utilized in various places,
has been pointed out. Under such a circumstance, this document aims at establishing a
unified standard concerning lower communication layer common to various applications such
as lighting, visible light signals and home appliances to utilize it commonly. Therefore, matters
concerning upper communication layer which depends upon individual applications are left to
each application standard.
B.3 Application examples
B.3.1 General
Visible light communication is suitable for local information delivery or information reception
from specified correspondents. Using different visible light sources with different radiation
patterns, it is possible to enable different ranges of communication. Visible light
communication system provides vital means for multimedia application services.
B.3.2 Multimedia applications utilizing positional information
Transmission of information from public facilities such as traffic signals enables delivery of
information deeply related to the place, including directions such as information concerning
stores in the neighbourhood, area map information, navigation information, route maps and
timetables of trains and buses and traffic information.
The visible light beacon transmitter transmits coded geographical information of the place
where the instrument is installed (positional information ID). The receiver can obtain its
positional information by ID resolution. Detection of peripheral services based on the present
position, transmission position report function at the time of emergency report and so forth
can be realized in buildings or underground malls where the use of GPS (global positioning
system) is difficult. Further, the function can be used as the means for a robot to detect its
position.
B.3.3 Application in public spaces
Information transmission in places where various people visit has difficulty in transmitting all
information appropriately, since the kind of information people want to receive varies
depending upon their attributes (age, gender, taste, physical condition, language, etc.).
Therefore, appropriate information transmission without damaging scenery will be made
possible by indicating only the point from which information is output using visible information

– 18 – IEC 62943:2017  IEC 2017
such as signals easily understood by everybody, and receiving actual information by visible
light communication.
B.3.4 Cooperation with other services
In case services are provided by other media or means at certain places, transmission of
information for accessing the services (for example, setting values for utilizing wireless LAN
at hot spot) is possible.
B.3.5 Application to setting of equipment
In photography studios, information received from lighting appliances will enable appropriate
setting (such as white balance) of cameras.
B.3.6 Application to AV and multimedia devices
Easy-to-understand application associating light and AV signals can be expected by
transmitting and receiving AV signals using visible light (such as with infrared light
headphones).
B.3.7 Application to entertainment
Based on an assumption that information can be received from light-emitting matters, games
of reaching goals while obtaining information with a receiver are possible, for example.
Alternatively, reversing the situation, games in which the player loads information on beam of
light to transmit the information to a fixed sensor to generate change are also possible.
B.4 Safety
Safety of visible light beacon products follows IEC 62471 and IEC TR 62471-2. Further,
class 1 products according to both of these documents are desirable both at normal and
abnormal states. Since main objects of these documents are laser light and LED, and the
contents can be revised in the future concerning treatment of LED, it is always necessary to
take in consideration the latest developments.
Further, concerning equipment having other functions (hereinafter referred to as main
functions) together with that of visible light communication such as lightings and signals,
safety standard concerning the main functions should be observed.

Annex C
(informative)
Purpose, justification, possible applications, and installation examples
C.1 Purpose
There is a market need to use location-specific multimedia data for consumers. Such data
includes location-specific multimedia contents, advertisement, security messages, and
navigation information. The purpose of this proposal is to use solid state lights such as LED
lights for sending such data by modulating light intensity.
C.2 Justification
There has been no proposal in IEC to make a standard using visible light of solid state lights.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop a method of visible light communication and its system
for sending data using lighting equipment. This proposal will enhance multimedia device
market.
C.3 Possible applications
C.3.1 Genereal
There are several use cases of visible light beacon system as shown below.
C.3.2 Visible light beacon system for multimedia devices receiving location-
dependent advertisement multimedia information from digital signage
Figure C.1 shows a visible light beacon system for multimedia devices r
...