Light‑fidelity communication: technology in progress

Light‑fidelity (Li‑Fi) wireless communication systems have seen many improvements in recent years. The Li‑Fi instrument network can actually enhance communication systems, and the detail design specification is reference material that may not prove to be 100% implementation‑ready but will help those who try to explore and advance this area as technology in progress. First, the two major end modules of the system are the optical wireless instrument (OWI) and the optical access point (OAP).

Optical wireless transmitters are constituted by a sensor for real‑time measurement of process‑variable information and the timely transmission per update rate of the OWI to the OAP via the optical signal.

Optical wireless control elements are constituted by the control element and the light‑sensitive module, which receive the optical signal at the light‑sensitive sensor and convert it into a respective electrical signal to control the process variable.

The optical access point (OAP) / transceiver modules comprise light‑emitting diode (LED) lights, light‑sensitive sensors such as photo‑detector or solar‑panel, high‑speed LED drivers, amplification and processing modules, and power modules. The light‑sensitive sensor is connected to an optical receiver or signal processing and amplification module, which processes the process‑variable information transmitted from the optical wireless transmitters and sends it to the programmable logic controller (PLC) or distributed control system (DCS) in the local control room (LCR), local electrical room (LER) or substation (SUB) via redundant fiber‑optic cable. The switch control module converts the control signal from the PLC/DCS into a switching signal of a specific frequency. The high‑speed LED driver receives the switch signal, which is converted to LED flashing light optical signal. Intrinsically safe battery packs or renewable energy such as thermal, solar or vibration / wind power the light‑sensitivity sensor module, LED array and processing module.