Implementation of Wi-Fi and VLC towards 5G

Abstract

Visible Light Communication (VLC) has the potential to boost the capacity to boost the capacity of
wireless access networks through spatial reuse. On the other hand, WiFi provides more coverage and does not
suffer from likelihood of blockage as in the case of VLC. Smart phones, tablets, and the rise of the Internet of
Things are driving an insatiable demand for wireless capacity. This demand requires networking and Internet
infrastructures to evolve to meet the needs of current and future multimedia application. The use of light as a
new mobile access medium is considered promising. In order to take the advantage of both WiFi and VLC, we
propose and implement two heterogenous systems with internet access. As a complementary approach to the
existing wireless RF solutions, VLC is poised to overcome the crowded radio spectrum in highly localized
systems and become a promising broadband wireless access candidate to resolve the “spectrum crunch.” In this
article, we describe the general characteristics of WiFi and VLC (or LiFi) and demonstrate a practical
framework for both technologies to coexist. We explore the existing research activity in this area and articulate
current and future research challenges based on our experience in building a proof-of-concept on their
coexistence.