Visible light communications for 5G wireless networking systems: from fixed to mobile communications

TLDR

Visible light communication (VLC) is emerging as a promising 5G access technology, offering energy efficiency and ultra‑wide bandwidth, yet its limited range and susceptibility to obstacles constrain its deployment. The article seeks to comprehensively review recent VLC research for its integration into 5G wireless systems. It examines VLC’s advantages and drawbacks relative to RF, focusing on spectrum, spatial reuse, security, and energy efficiency, and evaluates different lighting sources for VLC deployment. The review categorizes VLC networking literature into fixed and mobile communications.

Abstract

Visible light communication, considered as a potential access option for 5G wireless communications, is gaining extensive attention. VLC has strengths in energy efficiency and ultra wide bandwidth, but also has weakness in transmission range and obstacles in transmission paths. This article aims to provide a conclusive investigation of the latest progress in research on VLC, which can be used as part of 5G wireless communication systems. This work highlights the strengths and weaknesses of VLC in comparison with RF-based communications, especially in spectrum, spatial reuse, security and energy efficiency. The article also investigates various lighting sources proposed for VLC systems. It summarizes the literature work on VLC networking into two categories: fixed and mobile VLC communications.