Coded light emitting device

The invention relates to an illumination device for embedding data symbols of a data signal into a luminance output of the illumination device. The device includes a LED comprising at least two segments which have a common electrode and are individually controllable. The LED is configured to generate the luminance output in response to a drive signal. The device further includes a controller configured for switching one of the segments on or off in response to the data signal to embed data symbols of the data signal into the light output of the device. One advantage of such an approach is that the proposed device is compatible with conventional LED drivers since no additional electronics for modulating the drive signal are necessary, which enables simple implementation and reduced costs.