Using LEDs for Visible Light Communication and as a Wake-up Mechanism in the Internet of Things

The design and implementation of wireless sensor nodes for the Internet of Things require paying exceptional attention to their sources of energy consumption in order to extend their battery lifetime. These nodes spend most of the time in standby mode and they only wake up to perform a quick defined task, usually sensing and measuring or transmitting information. In this demo, LEDs are used for Visible Light Communication. A low-cost, small-size and low-power consumption LED-based interface circuit connected to an I/O microcontroller pin is proposed and tested. Moreover, this circuit also operates as a wake-up mechanism, aiding to achieve longer standby time and thus lower energy consumption. Our experiments are shown in actual commercial applications developed for a European project.