{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,21]],"date-time":"2026-04-21T00:58:11Z","timestamp":1776733091842,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,16]],"date-time":"2024-02-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1708041600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"FCT\u2014Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia","award":["UIDB\/00066\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/00066\/2020"]}]},{"name":"FCT\u2014Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia","award":["IPL\/2022\/POSEIDON_ISEL"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IPL\/2022\/POSEIDON_ISEL"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Symmetry"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This paper introduces a novel approach, Visible Light Communication (VLC), to optimize urban intersections by integrating VLC localization services with learning-based traffic signal control. The system enhances communication between connected vehicles and infrastructure using headlights, streetlights, and traffic signals to transmit information. Through Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Infrastructure-to-Vehicle (I2V) interactions, joint data transmission and collection occur via mobile optical receivers. The goal is to reduce waiting times for pedestrians and vehicles, enhancing overall traffic safety by employing flexible and adaptive measures accommodating diverse traffic movements. VLC cooperative mechanisms, transmission range, relative pose concepts, and queue\/request\/response interactions help balance traffic flow and improve road network performance. Evaluation in the SUMO urban mobility simulator demonstrates advantages, reducing waiting and travel times for both vehicles and pedestrians. The system employs a reinforcement learning scheme for effective traffic signal scheduling, utilizing VLC-ready vehicles to communicate positions, destinations, and routes. Agents at intersections calculate optimal strategies, communicating to optimize overall traffic flow. The proposed decentralized and scalable approach, especially suitable for multi-intersection scenarios, showcases the feasibility of applying reinforcement learning in real-world traffic scenarios.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/sym16020240","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,16]],"date-time":"2024-02-16T06:00:25Z","timestamp":1708063225000},"page":"240","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":31,"title":["Enhancing Urban Intersection Efficiency: Visible Light Communication and Learning-Based Control for Traffic Signal Optimization and Vehicle Management"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Manuel Augusto","family":"Vieira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"DEETC-ISEL\/IPL, R. Conselheiro Em\u00eddio Navarro, 1949-014 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"UNINOVA-CTS and LASI, Quinta da Torre, Monte da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Gon\u00e7alo","family":"Galv\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DEETC-ISEL\/IPL, R. Conselheiro Em\u00eddio Navarro, 1949-014 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1150-9895","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manuela","family":"Vieira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DEETC-ISEL\/IPL, R. Conselheiro Em\u00eddio Navarro, 1949-014 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"UNINOVA-CTS and LASI, Quinta da Torre, Monte da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"},{"name":"NOVA School of Science and Technology, Quinta da Torre, Monte da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Paula","family":"Louro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DEETC-ISEL\/IPL, R. Conselheiro Em\u00eddio Navarro, 1949-014 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"UNINOVA-CTS and LASI, Quinta da Torre, Monte da Caparica, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8556-4507","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"M\u00e1rio","family":"Vestias","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DEETC-ISEL\/IPL, R. Conselheiro Em\u00eddio Navarro, 1949-014 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"INESC-ID, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1000-029 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Vieira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"DEETC-ISEL\/IPL, R. Conselheiro Em\u00eddio Navarro, 1949-014 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Instituto de Telecomunica\u00e7\u00f5es, Instituto Superior T\u00e9cnico, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"60","article-title":"Indoor Visible Light Communications: Challenges and Prospects","volume":"Volume 7091","author":"Zeng","year":"2008","journal-title":"Free-Space Laser Communications VIII, Proceedings of the Optical Engineering + Applications, San Diego, CA, USA, 10\u201314 August 2008"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2047","DOI":"10.1109\/COMST.2015.2476474","article-title":"Visible Light Communication, Networking and Sensing: Potential and Challenges","volume":"17","author":"Pathak","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Surv. 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