Visible Light Communications for 6G

This chapter strives to investigate, in detail, the theory of VLC. Whereas VLC technology is nowhere near as mature as radio, it is potentially much better in various scenarios, which include V2X communications, underwater communication, or communications where low interference or high security is needed. After an introductory section describing the most important aspects of VLC, VLC system architecture and the physics of optical signal transmission and reception will be described in more detail. Then, considering that the VLC channel is different from the electromagnetic channel, VLC channel properties will be discussed. Physics of light generation and reception is also looked at in this chapter. Lastly, this chapter looks into modulation techniques for VLC, hybrid RF/VLC network implementations and some of the applications of VLC and other OWC types.