5G Wireless Communications for Future Internet of Things: The Need for Free-Space Optical/Visible Light Communication Technology

IoT networks have some important characteristics. Some key requirements of the IoT are low device cost, low deployment cost, high energy efficiency, high security and privacy, and support for a large number of devices. The LED-based OWC systems have all the great features required to support the IoT. The key technologies currently used for IoT connectivity are Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and WiFi. ZigBee is a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh network standard that has been widely used for IoT applications. The Internet of Things (IoT) based on the tactile internet will also be an essential part of the 5G communication systems. Accordingly, 5G wireless networks will face numerous challenges in supporting the extensive verities of heterogeneous networks and in satisfying the mentioned service-quality-related parameters. Optical wireless communication (OWC), along with many other wireless technologies, is a promising candidate for serving the demands of 5G communication systems.