INTRODUCTION

Visible light communication is two way wireless communications that uses medium of light. It uses photons as medium rather than EM waves which carry information. It can transmit data range between 400 THz (780 nm) and 800 THz (375 nm). Visible light is not injurious to vision.

Increasing Frequency

Increasing Wavelength

Fig.-Spectrum of light Data transmission using visible lights instead of electromagnetic waves eliminates drawbacks of transmission. It is a safe technology to transfer confidential matters. VLC mostly used indoors. More important requirement is that the light source has to meet the ability to switch on and off again in a short period of time that is how data is later modulated. Instead of conventional lights LEDs fulfils the requirement of frequent switching on and off. Motivation Using visible light for data transmission entails many advantages and eliminates most drawbacks of transmission via electromagnetic waves outside the visible spectrum. For instance, few known visible light-induced health problems exist today, exposure within moderation is assumed to be safe on the human body Moreover, since no interference with electromagnetic radiation occurs,visible light can be used in hospitals and other institutions without hesitation.

Furthermore, visible light is free. No company owns property rights for visible light and thus no royalty fees have to be paid nor do expensive patent-licence have to be purchased in order to use visible light for communication purpose. Visible light can serve as an entirely free infrastructure to base a complex communication network on.

History The idea of using visible light for data transmission is not entirely new. Using smoke signals to transfer messages goes back several thousand years and was used by many different cultures, e.g. Native Americans and Romans. The first sophisticated attempt to harness visible light for transmitting data was carried out by the Scottish scientist and inventor Alexander Graham Bell who is credited with inventing the photophone. The photophone was a device that allowed to transmit data on rays of sunlight and was completed in February 1880 by Bell and his assistant Charles Tainter.

Fig.2. Schematic view of the photophone

Figure-2 shows a schematic representation of the photophone which will help to describe its operation. Incoming sunlight is focused through a lense a on a very thin mirror b which is made to vibrate by a person's voice channelled through a mouth. Light beams that are thus reacted from the vibrating mirror contain the modulated speech signal. This light then travels through lense c to a parabolic mirror e in whose focal point a selenium cell d is positioned. Selenium has the convenient property that its conductivity is inversely proportional to the amount of light falling on it. An attached telephone g can therefore demodulate the signal back into audible waves. In April 1880 Bell and Tainter engaged in the first wireless communication in history when they were 213 m apart from each other. Tainter spoke to Bell and told him to wave his hat at irregular intervals, thus proving that their apparatus really did work.

Technology Transmitter Every source of lights can be used as transmitter in VLC. The preferred light sources are fluorescent lights and LEDs. Fluorescent light transmits a meaningful amount of data by frequently flickering. LEDs are those which consist of ultraviolet LED surrounded by phosphorous which is then illuminated by actual LEDs and emits white light. As a new idea three distinct LEDs are used which are red, green and blue lights at same time and appears as white in human eyes. By this 100 Mbps of data can be transmit per second.

ReceiverThe most common choice of receivers are photodiodes which turn light into electrical pulses. The signal retrieved in this way can then be demodulated into actual data. In more complex VLC-based scenarios, such as Image Sensor Communication even CMOS or CCD sensors are used. (Which are usually built into digital cameras).

Modulation

In order to actually send out data via LEDs, such as pictures or audio files, it is necessary to modulate these into a carrier signal. In the context of visible light communication, this carrier signal consists of light pulses sent out in short intervals. How these are exactly interpreted depends on the chosen modulation scheme. There are two types of VLC modulation. 1- Sub-Carrier Pulse Position Modulation (SC-PPM) 2- Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)

Subcarrierpulse position modulationIn this type of modulation data is separated into blocks of logk bits. Transmission time of a single pulse determines which of the k possibilities is represented by the current blocks.

Fig.- Examples for Sub Carrier-Pulse Position Modulation in context of VLC

Frequency Shift Keying In frequency shift keying (FSK) data is represented by varying frequencies of the carrier wave. In order to transmit two distinct values (0 and 1), there need to be two distinct frequencies. This is also the simplest form of frequency shift keying, called binary frequency shift keying (BFSK). Figure 5 shows an example of frequency-shift keying by modulating of the same data string that was used in the SC-PPM example.

Fig.- Example of binary frequency shift keying in VLC

Advantage

Ease of deployment License-free long-range operation High bit rates Low bit error rates Immunity to electromagnetic interference Full duplex operation Very secure due to the high directionality and narrowness of the beam(s) No Fresnel zone necessary

Disadvantages

Beam dispersion Atmospheric absorption Rain Fog (10..~100 dB/km attenuation) Snow Scintillation

Background light Shadowing Pointing stability in wind Pollution / smog If the sun goes exactly behind the transmitter, it can swamp the signal

Applications
It should be noted that most proposed VLC applications are far from being market-ready. Therefore, most applications mentioned in this section have often been tried out in research settings, but their usage in real world scenarios is still somewhat hypothetical. 1. MOBILE CONNECTIVITY By pointing a visible light at another device you can create a very high speed data link with inherent security. This overcomes the problems of having to pair or connect and provides a much higher data rate than Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

2. HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS Communicating in areas where there is risk of explosions can be a problem (e.g. in mines, petro-chemical plants, oil rigs etc.). VLC is inherently safe and provides both safe illumination and communications.

3. VEHICLE & TRANSPORTATION Many cars already LED lamps. Traffic signage, traffic lights, and street lamps are adopting the LED technology so there are massive applications opportunities here.

4. DEFENCE & SECURITY The ability to send data quickly and in a secure way is the key to many applications. The fact that the visible light cannot be detected on the other side of a wall had great security advantages. 5. HOSPITALS & HEALTHCARE There are advantages for using VLC in hospitals and in healthcare. Mobile phones and WiFis are undesirable in certain parts of hospitals, especially around MRI scanners and in operating theatres. 6. WiFi SPECTRUM RELIEF WiFis have got faster over but cannot keep up with demand for wireless data. VLC can provide data rates greatly in excess of current WiFi and this can be done at low cost since the RF components and antenna system have been eliminated. 7. AVIATION Radio is undesirable in passenger compartments of aircraft. LEDs are already used for illumination and can also be used instead of wires to provide media services to passengers. This reduces the aircraft construction costs and its weight.

8. UNDERWATER COMMUNICATIONS RF does not work underwater but visible light can support high speed data transmission over short distances in this environment. This could enable divers and underwater vehicles to talk to each other. 9. LOCATION BASED SERVICES Each visible light information source can be uniquely identified, so the location of any VLC device can be identified quickly and accurately. 10. SMART LIGHTING Smart buildings require smart lighting. Smart lighting with VLC provides the infrastructure for illumination, control and communications and will greatly reduce wiring and energy consumption within a building.