Submitted Successfully!
To reward your contribution, here is a gift for you: A free trial for our video production service.
Thank you for your contribution! You can also upload a video entry or images related to this topic.
Version Summary Created by Modification Content Size Created at Operation
1 -- 1774 2023-10-12 15:07:09 |
2 layout Meta information modification 1774 2023-10-13 03:29:44 |

Video Upload Options

Do you have a full video?

Confirm

Are you sure to Delete?
Cite
If you have any further questions, please contact Encyclopedia Editorial Office.
Bravo Alvarez, L.; Montejo-Sánchez, S.; Rodríguez-López, L.; Azurdia-Meza, C.; Saavedra, G. VLC/RF Hybrid Network Applications. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/50207 (accessed on 19 May 2024).
Bravo Alvarez L, Montejo-Sánchez S, Rodríguez-López L, Azurdia-Meza C, Saavedra G. VLC/RF Hybrid Network Applications. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/50207. Accessed May 19, 2024.
Bravo Alvarez, Lisandra, Samuel Montejo-Sánchez, Lien Rodríguez-López, Cesar Azurdia-Meza, Gabriel Saavedra. "VLC/RF Hybrid Network Applications" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/50207 (accessed May 19, 2024).
Bravo Alvarez, L., Montejo-Sánchez, S., Rodríguez-López, L., Azurdia-Meza, C., & Saavedra, G. (2023, October 12). VLC/RF Hybrid Network Applications. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/50207
Bravo Alvarez, Lisandra, et al. "VLC/RF Hybrid Network Applications." Encyclopedia. Web. 12 October, 2023.
VLC/RF Hybrid Network Applications
Edit

With the goal of secure and efficient communications, the VLC Consortium (VLCC) was established to promote and standardize VLC technology in 2007. VLC is characterized by high security, as information cannot be filtered. In addition, it is immune to RF interference, meaning that the system can be used freely in environments sensitive to electromagnetic signals.

hybrid networks optical camera communication (OCC) radio frequency (RF) visible light communication (VLC)

1. Introduction

In recent years, the limitations of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum for mobile communications have become very evident [1]. This is a great challenge to overcome in light of the traffic load demands associated with fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication, with alarming projections beyond 5G and into the sixth generation (6G). Due to these limitations, the dense deployment of RF access points leads to high competition for available channels [2], which entails degradation of the quality of service (QoS).
As an alternative solution, visible light communication (VLC) has been proposed, an optical wireless communication technology that uses the visible light spectrum with wavelengths between 375 and 780 nm [3]. This technology uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that produce incoherent light to illuminate and transmit data simultaneously, achieving high data rates of hundreds of megabits per second [4]. With the goal of secure and efficient communications, the VLC Consortium (VLCC) was established to promote and standardize VLC technology in 2007 [5]. VLC is characterized by high security, as information cannot be filtered [6]. In addition, it is immune to RF interference, meaning that the system can be used freely in environments sensitive to electromagnetic signals [7]. VLC has experienced rapid development and has attracted much interest from researchers [8]. In 2011, the Visible Light Communications Task Group created the IEEE 802.15.7 standard [9] that establishes three physical (PHY) VLC operation modes, as shown in Table 1. The three PHY modes can coexist with each other, thereby mitigating LED flicker and reducing dimming [10]. In 2019, the ITU-T Telecommunication Standardization Sector finalized recommendation G.9991 that established the first commercially ready light fidelity (Li-Fi) standard [11]. Both IEEE 802.15.7 and G.9991 have now converged into IEEE 802.11bb to refine the medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) of VLC [12]. One of the essential features of the IEEE 802.11bb standard [13] is that there is a single medium access control (MAC) sublayer common to all physical layers. This feature enables easier interoperability between the different physical layers, making cooperation between RF and visible light communications technologies possible [2].
Table 1. IEEE 802.15.7 (PHY) parameters.
On the other hand, the implementation of the B5G cellular networks has brought with it an increase in mobile traffic with applications such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and online video games [14]. Ultra-high capacity wireless connectivity is considered a key technology to support end-to-end delivery in the era of beyond 5G and 6G [15][16]. Therefore, there is a need for a network infrastructure capable of supporting multiple new services that demand ultra-high transmission speeds, device connectivity, and high quality of experience (QoE) [17].

2. VLC/RF Hybrid Network Applications

Thanks to the varied characteristics of VLC and RF networks and their complementarity, there are a wide range of applications in the technological, economic, and social-environmental fields for these types of networks. VLC/RF hybrid networks have demonstrated great improvements in overall system performance in terms of data rate, load balancing, and lower time delay in both indoor and outdoor scenarios [18]. The implementation cost of these networks is relatively low, and they allow for the reuse of the entire existing lighting infrastructure [19]. The energy efficiency of VLC/RF networks and the possibility of distributing multiple access points without interference or environmental waste can facilitate the decrease of energy consumption and environmental pollution, helping to meet the Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030 established by the UN [20]. Figure 1 shows an example of the applications of VLC/RF networks and the relationship between them.
Figure 1. VLC/RF network applications.

2.1. Technological Applications

VLC/RF hybrid technology could be a key tool to achieve smart homes. The data speed and security of VLC networks in conjunction with the ubiquity of RF coverage could be used to interconnect all electronic equipment within smart homes. In this way, any command could be executed on any electronic equipment in the house from a mobile terminal or simply by voice, even if far away from the house. The use of a solar panel on the roof of an IoT smart house represents a way to store energy and transmit information at the same time through the VLC network, which could then be transferred to the interior of the house through the RF network. The authors of [21] investigated the applications of hybrid VLC/RF networks in a three-dimensional indoor IoT system, taking into account temperature sensors, indoor air quality sensors, indoor sensors, and humidity sensors.
IoT applications associated with factories and production have attracted the attention of researchers in recent years [21][22][23]. The goal is to use the performance of VLC/RF networks to interconnect production equipment and automation technologies to enable the generation and sharing of information between all equipment. This can enable big data generation to identify certain production patterns and even predict inefficiencies and future events.
Vehicular and traffic control applications on the road are another promising options for the development of automotive technology. Due to the random nature of car traffic on the road, it is necessary to implement a hybrid technology that allows communication between cars and organizes their passage. Several authors have investigated this topic and proposed different vehicle control applications using hybrid VLC/RF networks [24][25][26]. In [24], the authors proposed an outdoor cognitive network with electric vehicles using mixed VLC and RF channels to establish interference-free communication between vehicles. On the other hand, in [25] the authors presented a hybrid VLC/RF cooperative system in vehicle-to-vehicle communication networks and analyzed the performance of the hybrid system in terms of outage probability and bit error rate. The authors of [26] investigated resource management in hybrid VLC/RF systems for wireless communication between vehicles and infrastructures.

2.2. Economic Applications

VLC networks offer a great guarantee of security, as the transmitter and receiver must be in the line of sight, the coverage area is very small, and the transmission power is focused only on the light beam. In places where it is necessary to send and receive data that must be protected (e.g., companies, banks, hospitals) the implementation of hybrid VLC/RF networks can provide great security in data transmission [27][28].
In scenarios where there is a high density of users connected to the internet (e.g., stadiums, airports, and parks) the use of multiple RF access points can cause interference and reduce system performance. The use of hybrid VLC/RF networks can solve this problem by reusing the entire existing lighting infrastructure for VLC data transmission. These hybrid networks provide higher data rates, reduce RF interference, and have a very low implementation cost, making them are ideal for high user density scenarios [29][30][31].
Hybrid VLC/RF networks have demonstrated a great improvement in the characteristics and capabilities of wireless communications systems. Research has focused on increasing the data rate [32][33][34] to improve the overall capacity of hybrid system, while other authors have focused on decreasing the system time delay [35][36][37].
Mining communication systems are an application that safeguards the safety of workers in mines and increases the efficiency of their work. In recent years, VLC links have been widely investigated as a complementary technology to RF links for subway mining applications due to their high data rate and freedom from RF interference [38][39]. Subway mines represent a challenging scenario due to their irregular walls and many shadows and dust particles, which produce the scattering phenomenon. For all of these reasons, this industry requires an optimal transverse communication system that can be supplemented by hybrid VLC/RF networks. The use of indoor, motion, and ambient dust particle sensors would be of great help in the implementation of VLC/RF networks in these and similar hostile scenarios.
Technology is a great ally of agriculture, helping to achieve greater efficiency in farming with the objective of supplying the population without depleting the planet’s resources. The implementation of hybrid VLC/RF networks in conjunction with sensors dedicated to agricultural activity can be of great help in monitoring and sending information about events concerning crops and their surroundings [40][41].

2.3. Social-Environmental Applications

VLC/RF networks have been presented as a reliable alternative to obtain the location of mobile terminals in deep indoor scenarios (tunnels, mines, and subways) where GPS has no connection. The RF network can be used to obtain the external location of the site, while the VLC network can provide the internal location of the user. Several proposals for positioning applications using VLC/RF networks have been put forward [42][43][44], and a minimum estimation error of 5.8 cm has been demonstrated.
Several authors have investigated the process of power transfer from a VLC network to the nearest users [27][45]. This power transfer allows the energy transmitted by the LED lights to be stored for later use in other transmissions. This application has demonstrated high energy efficiency for hybrid VLC/RF networks, and could have a large impact on overall energy consumption [46][47].
The growth and development of cities is an aspect that has been taken into account in technological research throughout history. The implementation of hybrid networks, especially VLC/RF networks, represents a key parameter to achieve efficient management of each area of the city, thereby improving the life of its inhabitants. Hybrid VLC/RF technology can allow energy optimization, reduce household consumption, organize the movement of vehicles, and increase the flow of mobile traffic, among many other aspects necessary to achieve the development of sustainable cities [48][49][50].
The main advantages of hybrid VLC/RF networks over conventional RF networks are their ability to increase transmission bandwidth and alleviate congestion in RF networks. In addition, these hybrid networks can be deployed and operated satisfactorily in locations where a pure RF network is insufficient. Table 2 comparatively summarizes the performance of VLC/RF and conventional RF networks for the applications proposed in this section. The ⋆ and ★ marks respectively indicate good and excellent performance considering the criteria of previous works and the corresponding performance metrics.
Table 2. Summary of VLC/RF network performance for different applications. The ⋆ and ★ marks indicate good and excellent performance, respectively.
Applications VLC/RF Systems RF Network
IoT Home [21] ★ (Bandwidth, Latency)
IoT Factory [23] ★ (Bandwidth, Latency) ★ (Coverage)
Vehicle Control [24] ★ (Latency, Coverage)
Security [27] ★ (Security, Reliability)
System Capacity [34] ★ (Energy efficiency)
Mining Systems [38] ★ (Interference, Connectivity) ★ (Coverage)
agriculture [40] ★ (Interference, Connectivity)
localization [42] ★ (Underground connectivity) ★ (Coverage, Precision)
Power Transfer [45] ★ (Bandwidth, Latency)
IoT City [49] ★ (Bandwidth, Latency)

References

  1. Shehab, M.J.; Kassem, I.; Kutty, A.A.; Kucukvar, M.; Onat, N.; Khattab, T. 5G Networks Towards Smart and Sustainable Cities: A Review of Recent Developments, Applications and Future Perspectives. IEEE Access 2021, 10, 2987–3006.
  2. Wu, X.; Soltani, M.D.; Zhou, L.; Safari, M.; Haas, H. Hybrid LiFi and WiFi networks: A survey. IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor. 2021, 23, 1398–1420.
  3. Khan, L.U. Visible light communication: Applications, architecture, standardization and research challenges. Digit. Commun. Netw. 2017, 3, 78–88.
  4. Obeed, M.; Salhab, A.M.; Alouini, M.S.; Zummo, S.A. On optimizing VLC networks for downlink multi-user transmission: A survey. IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor. 2019, 21, 2947–2976.
  5. Figueiredo, M.; Alves, L.N.; Ribeiro, C. Lighting the wireless world: The promise and challenges of visible light communication. IEEE Consum. Electron. Mag. 2017, 6, 28–37.
  6. Hammouda, M.; Vegni, A.M.; Haas, H.; Peissig, J. Resource allocation and interference management in OFDMA-based VLC networks. Phys. Commun. 2018, 31, 169–180.
  7. Cevik, T.; Yilmaz, S. An overview of visible light communication systems. arXiv 2015, arXiv:1512.03568.
  8. Hu, F.; Chen, S.; Zhang, Y.; Li, G.; Zou, P.; Zhang, J.; Shen, C.; Zhang, X.; Hu, J.; Zhang, J.; et al. High-speed visible light communication systems based on Si-substrate LEDs with multiple superlattice interlayers. PhotoniX 2021, 2, 1–18.
  9. IEEE 802.15.7 WPAN Task Group 7 (TG7) Visible Light Communication. Available online: http://www.ieee802.org/15/pub/TG7.html (accessed on 28 August 2023).
  10. Rajagopal, S.; Roberts, R.D.; Lim, S.K. IEEE 802.15. 7 visible light communication: Modulation schemes and dimming support. IEEE Commun. Mag. 2012, 50, 72–82.
  11. Sulayman, I.I.A.; He, R.; Manka, M.; Ning, A.; Ouda, A. LiFi/WiFi Authentication and Handover Protocols: Survey, Evaluation, and Recommendation. In Proceedings of the 2021 International Symposium on Networks, Computers and Communications (ISNCC), London, UK, 4–8 April 2021; pp. 1–6.
  12. Khorov, E.; Levitsky, I. Current Status and Challenges of Li-Fi: IEEE 802.11 bb. IEEE Commun. Stand. Mag. 2022, 6, 35–41.
  13. IEEE 802.11bb Task Group on Light Communications. Available online: https://www.ieee802.org/11/Reports/tgbb_update.htm (accessed on 28 August 2023).
  14. Dogra, A.; Jha, R.K.; Jain, S. A survey on beyond 5G network with the advent of 6G: Architecture and emerging technologies. IEEE Access 2020, 9, 67512–67547.
  15. Jiang, W.; Han, B.; Habibi, M.A.; Schotten, H.D. The road towards 6G: A comprehensive survey. IEEE Open J. Commun. Soc. 2021, 2, 334–366.
  16. Miramirkhani, F.; Karbalayghareh, M.; Zeydan, E.; Mitra, R. Enabling 5G indoor services for residential environment using VLC technology. Phys. Commun. 2022, 53, 101679.
  17. Chowdhury, M.Z.; Hasan, M.K.; Shahjalal, M.; Hossan, M.T.; Jang, Y.M. Optical wireless hybrid networks: Trends, opportunities, challenges, and research directions. IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor. 2020, 22, 930–966.
  18. Abuella, H.; Miramirkhani, F.; Ekin, S.; Uysal, M.; Ahmed, S. ViLDAR—Visible light sensing-based speed estimation using vehicle headlamps. IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol. 2019, 68, 10406–10417.
  19. Fuada, S.; Adiono, T.; Putra, A.P.; Aska, Y. LED driver design for indoor lighting and low-rate data transmission purpose. Optik 2018, 156, 847–856.
  20. Sanahuja, J.A. La Agenda 2030 y los ODS: Sociedades Pacíficas, Justas e Inclusivas Como Pilar de la Seguridad; CIMAPRESS: Madrid, Spain, 2019.
  21. Pan, G.; Lei, H.; Ding, Z.; Ni, Q. 3-D hybrid VLC-RF indoor IoT systems with light energy harvesting. IEEE Trans. Green Commun. Netw. 2019, 3, 853–865.
  22. Wu, Z.Y.; Ismail, M.; Serpedin, E.; Wang, J. Data-driven link assignment with QoS guarantee in mobile RF-optical HetNet of things. IEEE Internet Things J. 2020, 7, 5088–5102.
  23. Wang, Y.; Wu, X.; Haas, H. Distributed load balancing for Internet of Things by using Li-Fi and RF hybrid network. In Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE 26th Annual International Symposium on Personal, Indoor, and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), Riga, Latvia, 3–7 June 2015; pp. 1289–1294.
  24. Nauryzbayev, G.; Abdallah, M.; Ansari, I.S.; Al-Dhahir, N.; Qaraqe, K. Outage of cognitive electric vehicle networks over mixed RF/VLC channels with signal-dependent noise and imperfect CSI. IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol. 2020, 69, 6828–6832.
  25. Abouzohri, E.M.H.; Abdallah, M.M. Performance of hybrid cognitive RF/VLC systems in vehicle-to-vehicle communications. In Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Informatics, IoT, and Enabling Technologies (ICIoT), Tallinn, Estonia, 4–8 August 2020; pp. 429–434.
  26. Chen, J.; Wang, Z.; Mao, T. Resource management for hybrid RF/VLC V2I wireless communication system. IEEE Commun. Lett. 2020, 24, 868–871.
  27. Pan, G.; Ye, J.; Ding, Z. Secure hybrid VLC-RF systems with light energy harvesting. IEEE Trans. Commun. 2017, 65, 4348–4359.
  28. Marzban, M.F.; Kashef, M.; Abdallah, M.; Khairy, M. Beamforming and power allocation for physical-layer security in hybrid RF/VLC wireless networks. In Proceedings of the 2017 13th International Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing Conference (IWCMC), Rome, Italy, 4–9 October 2017; pp. 258–263.
  29. Xiao, Y.; Diamantoulakis, P.D.; Fang, Z.; Hao, L.; Ma, Z.; Karagiannidis, G.K. Cooperative hybrid VLC/RF systems with SLIPT. IEEE Trans. Commun. 2021, 69, 2532–2545.
  30. Du, Z.; Wang, C.; Sun, Y.; Wu, G. Context-aware indoor VLC/RF heterogeneous network selection: Reinforcement learning with knowledge transfer. IEEE Access 2018, 6, 33275–33284.
  31. Zhang, C.; Ye, J.; Pan, G.; Ding, Z. Cooperative hybrid VLC-RF systems with spatially random terminals. IEEE Trans. Commun. 2018, 66, 6396–6408.
  32. Wu, X.; Haas, H. Access point assignment in hybrid LiFi and WiFi networks in consideration of LiFi channel blockage. In Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE 18th International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC), Oulu, Finland, 4–6 July 2017; pp. 1–5.
  33. Pratama, Y.S.M.; Choi, K.W. Bandwidth aggregation protocol and throughput-optimal scheduler for hybrid RF and visible light communication systems. IEEE Access 2018, 6, 32173–32187.
  34. Ma, W.; Zhang, L.; Wu, Z. Location information-aided load balancing design for hybrid LiFi and WiFi networks. In Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Computing, Networking and Communications (ICNC), Budapest, Hungary, 12–17 October 2019; pp. 413–417.
  35. Hammouda, M.; Akın, S.; Vegni, A.M.; Haas, H.; Peissig, J. Link selection in hybrid RF/VLC systems under statistical queueing constraints. IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun. 2018, 17, 2738–2754.
  36. Jin, F.; Zhang, R.; Hanzo, L. Resource allocation under delay-guarantee constraints for heterogeneous visible-light and RF femtocell. IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun. 2014, 14, 1020–1034.
  37. Rakia, T.; Yang, H.C.; Gebali, F.; Alouini, M.S. Dual-hop VLC/RF transmission system with energy harvesting relay under delay constraint. In Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE Globecom Workshops (GC Wkshps), Berlin, Germany, 12–18 April 2016; pp. 1–6.
  38. Palacios Játiva, P.; Azurdia-Meza, C.A.; Sánchez, I.; Zabala-Blanco, D.; Dehghan Firoozabadi, A.; Soto, I.; Seguel, F. An Enhanced VLC Channel Model for Underground Mining Environments Considering a 3D Dust Particle Distribution Model. Sensors 2022, 22, 2483.
  39. Játiva, P.P.; Azurdia-Meza, C.A.; Sánchez, I.; Seguel, F.; Zabala-Blanco, D.; Firoozabadi, A.D.; Gutiérrez, C.A.; Soto, I. A VLC channel model for underground mining environments with scattering and shadowing. IEEE Access 2020, 8, 185445–185464.
  40. Kadam, K.; Chavan, G.; Chavan, U.; Shah, R.; Kumar, P. Smart and precision polyhouse farming using visible light communication and internet of things. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference Intelligent Computing and Information and Communication ICICC, Rome, Italy, 15–18 October 2017; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2018; pp. 247–256.
  41. Ramberg, L. Farmer Knowledge Sharing and Social Networks in Agricultural Extension; Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences: Upsala, Sweden, 2020.
  42. Lee, Y.U.; Kavehrad, M. Two hybrid positioning system design techniques with lighting LEDs and ad-hoc wireless network. IEEE Trans. Consum. Electron. 2012, 58, 1176–1184.
  43. Konings, D.; Parr, B.; Waddell, C.; Alam, F.; Arif, K.M.; Lai, E.M. HVLP: Hybrid visible light positioning of a mobile robot. In Proceedings of the 2017 24th International Conference on Mechatronics and Machine Vision in Practice (M2VIP), Auckland, New Zealand, 21–23 November 2017; pp. 1–6.
  44. Ziyan, J. A visible light communication based hybrid positioning method for wireless sensor networks. In Proceedings of the 2012 Second International Conference on Intelligent System Design and Engineering Application, Sanya, China, 6–7 January 2012; pp. 1367–1370.
  45. Zhou, X.; Li, S.; Zhang, H.; Wen, Y.; Han, Y.; Yuan, D. Cooperative NOMA based VLC/RF system with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer. In Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE/CIC International Conference on Communications in China (ICCC), Beijing, China, 10–15 April 2018; pp. 100–105.
  46. Kong, J.; Ismail, M.; Serpedin, E.; Qaraqe, K.A. Energy efficient optimization of base station intensities for hybrid RF/VLC networks. IEEE Trans. Wirel. Commun. 2019, 18, 4171–4183.
  47. Wu, W.; Zhou, F.; Yang, Q. Dynamic network resource optimization in hybrid VLC and radio frequency networks. In Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Selected Topics in Mobile and Wireless Networking (MoWNeT), London, UK, 6–8 June 2017; pp. 1–7.
  48. Becvar, Z.; Najla, M.; Mach, P. Selection between radio frequency and visible light communication bands for D2D. In Proceedings of the 2018 IEEE 87th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC Spring), Porto, Portugal, 3–6 June 2018; pp. 1–7.
  49. Yang, H.; Alphones, A.; Zhong, W.D.; Chen, C.; Xie, X. Learning-based energy-efficient resource management by heterogeneous RF/VLC for ultra-reliable low-latency industrial IoT networks. IEEE Trans. Ind. Inform. 2019, 16, 5565–5576.
  50. Mach, P.; Becvar, Z.; Najla, M.; Zvanovec, S. Combination of visible light and radio frequency bands for device-to-device communication. In Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE 28th Annual International Symposium on Personal, Indoor, and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), London, UK, 7–15 May 2017; pp. 1–7.
More
Information
Subjects: Telecommunications
Contributors MDPI registered users' name will be linked to their SciProfiles pages. To register with us, please refer to https://encyclopedia.pub/register : , , , ,
View Times: 87
Revisions: 2 times (View History)
Update Date: 13 Oct 2023
1000/1000