High-speed visible laser light communication: devices, systems and applications

In recent years, high-speed visible light communications (VLC) have been identified as an essential part of communication technologies for next generation wireless network owing to the increasing demand for faster data transmission speeds. VLC offers the unique advantages of ultra-high data rate, unregulated and secure channels, free of EM interference. Compared with the LED-based VLC system, laser-based photonic systems are promising for compact, droop-free, and high-speed white lighting and VLC applications, making them ideal alternatives for building ultra-fast optical wireless data link. Besides the potential for achieving high data rate free-space communication links, i.e., the Li-Fi network, laser-based VLC, or visible laser light communication (VLLC) technology can also enable underwater wireless optical communications (UWOC) for many important applications. This paper summarizes the recent progress in high-speed laser-based VLC devices and explore VLLC-enabled networks, systems, and applications. I will describe state-of-the-art VLC transmitter and receiver technologies. Novel designs to overcome the inherent limitations will be covered. Finally, the innovations in VLC systems for industrial IoT, vehicular communication, and underwater wireless networks applications will be discussed.