Visible light communications in industrial internet of things (IIoT)

Abstract

Miniaturization of sensors and hardware for enabling technologies such as wireless charging, energy harvesting, and low-power communications are foreseen to play an important role in the future of various industries ranging from manufacturing to automotive. These industries are projected to become mainly data-driven, as the data acquisition and manipulation capabilities are becoming the main competencies in these industries. Hence, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) emerges not only as a key paradigm for distributed control of actuators but also solidifies the need for capturing and processing data. In this chapter, we discuss the use of visible light communications (VLC) within the IIoT paradigm. VLC considers the use of light sources and photodetectors operating in the visible band of the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g., light-emitting diodes) for communication purposes. Since VLC works in the visible band, it does not further congest the already over-crowded radio frequency (RF) bands. VLC is also secure, RF interference-free, low-cost, and energy efficient. Thus, it has been considered for utilization in many application areas such as intelligent transport systems, indoor localization, and communication in RF-sensitive zones. In this chapter, while discussing the advantages and limitations of using VLC in IIoT systems, we further explore the possible utilization of bi-directional LED to LED communication within this scope for very low-cost communication devices. Finally, we discuss current and possible future applications of VLC in the IIoT context, identifying the following as potential future applications: LED-Based IIoT sensor data transmissions, LED beaconing for localization and signaling, wearable VLC devices for safety, VLC for ubiquitous computing, VLC-supported augmented reality, VLC for smart farming, VLC-assisted energy load scheduling, VLC-supported industrial Internet of Underwater Things, VLC-offloaded telecom services, and VLC usage in the transportation industry.