Visible Light Communication: Importance and Thai Preparations

Since the Internet of Thing allows devices to be interconnected across communication networks, the demand for bandwidth in personal communication are growing rapidly as the number of devices increases. Moreover, the location estimation in an indoor environment requires a proper technology because the global positioning system cannot provide satisfactory accuracy. Thus, a visible light communication (VLC) technology is introduced so as to add extra capacity to an existing radio frequency infrastructure. In practice, the VLC can utilize the lighting system infrastructure to transmit data via light intensity together with illumination. Several VLC standards have been published by the visible light communication consortium (VLCC) and the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) in 2003 and 2011 respectively. In the past five years, many researchers in Thailand have focused on both VLC basic research and technology implementation. Additionally, the inter-University co-operation known as LED-SmartCon has also been established by ECTI Association to promote the VLC technology in Thailand.