Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Visible light communication networks MAC layer solutions: open issues and trends

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Photonic Network Communications Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Visible light communication (VLC) network is an appropriate solution to meet the 5G and 6G. It can overcome the spectrum scarcity and capacity in the radio frequency (RF) networks. This network faces some challenges. Obstacles can break links and disconnect the network. Mobile nodes cannot receive data continuously because the transmitters have few fields of view. Using common MAC solutions in wireless networks does not solve VLC network problems. VLC MAC solutions should solve deafness, hidden node, full-duplex capability, channel utilization, and connectivity. This paper provided a survey in MAC layer solutions in VLC networks based on the systematic literature review (SLR). The methods have been recently published from 2011 to 2021. We analyzed analytically and statistically and the technical taxonomy presented with the SLR process according to the proposed solutions. Solutions were categorized into half-duplex, full-duplex, cooperative, and VLC/RF categories. Also, other proposed methods were described briefly. We explained the features, advantages, and disadvantages of each method. MAC layer design challenges in VLC networks were discussed to fill the gap in the previous literature. By classification and problem analysis, fewer attention topics that need more research were extracted. We found that fairness and reliability metrics received less attention and dynamic resource allocation was the main context in the VLC MAC solutions. Finally, future research challenges and open issues in VLC MAC solutions were proposed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of data and material

Not applicable.

References

  1. Cen, N., Jagannath, J., Moretti, S., Guan, Z., Melodia, T.: LANET: Visible-light ad hoc networks. Ad Hoc Netw. 84, 107–123 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Amjad, M., Qureshi, H.K., Jangsher, S.: Reserve before transmit (RBT): VLC MAC layer frame structure for 5G indoor internet applications. Trans. Emerg. Telecommun. Technologies. 30, 1–14 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Abdelhady, A.M., Amin, O., Chaaban, A., Shihada, B.: Downlink resource allocation for dynamic TDMA-based VLC systems Downlink resource allocation for dynamic TDMA-based VLC systems. IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun. 18, 108–120 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Jagannath, J., Melodia, T.: An Opportunistic medium access control protocol for visible light ad hoc networks. IEEE International Conference on Computing, Networking and Communications (ICNC). 609–614, (2018)

  5. Chi, N., Zhou, Y., Wei, Y.: Visible light communication in 6G: Advances, challenges, and prospects. IEEE Vehicular Technol. 15(4), 93–102 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Chowdhury, M.Z., Hossan, M.T., Islam, A., Jang, Y.M.: A comparative survey of optical wireless technologies: architectures and applications. IEEE Access. 6, 9819–9840 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Khan, L.U.: Visible light communication: Applications, architecture, standardization and research challenges. Digital Commun. Netw. 3(2), 78–88 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Pathak, P.H., Feng, X., Hu, P., Mohapatra, P.: Visible light communication, networking, and sensing: a survey, potential and challenges. IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutorials. 17(4), 2047–2077 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Mapunda, G. A., Ramogomana, R., Marata, L., Basutli, B., Khan, A. S., Chuma, J. M.: Indoor Visible Light Communication: A Tutorial and Survey. Wireless Commun. Mobile Comput. J. (2020)

  10. Asghari, P., Rahmani, A.M., Javadi, H.H.S.: Internet of things applications: A systematic review. Comput. Netw. 148, 241–261 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Jafarnejad Ghomi, E., Masoud Rahmani, A., Nasih Qader, N.: Load-balancing algorithms in cloud computing: A survey. J. Netw. Comput. Appll. 88, 50–71 (2017)

  12. IEEE Standard for Local and metropolitan area networks—Part 15. 7 : Short-Range Wireless Optical Communication Using Visible Light, IEEE STD 802.15.7–2011. (Sep 2011)

  13. Msongaleli, D. L., Kucuk, K., Kavak, A.: Adaptive polling medium access control protocol for optic wireless networks. Appl Sci (Switzerland). 9, 6, (2019)

  14. Dang, N. T., Mai, V.V.: A PHY/MAC cross-layer analysis for IEEE 802.15.7 uplink visible local area network. IEEE Photonics J. 11, 1–17, (2019)

  15. Kwon, J., Lee, S., Kim, E.: Group-based Concurrent Transmissions for Spatial Efficiency in IEEE 802.15.7 Visible Light Communications. Appl. Math. Modell. 53, 709–721 (2018)

  16. Kim, E.-J., Kwon, J.-H., Kim, D., Lim, Y.: Distributed Interference-aware Medium Access Control for IEEE 802.15.7 Visible Light Communications. Sensors Mater. J. (Tokyo). 30(8), 1665, (2018)

  17. Cǎilean, A. M., Dimian,M.: Impact of IEEE 802.15.7 standard on visible light communications usage in automotive applications. IEEE Communications Magazine. 55(4), 169–175 (2017)

  18. Liu, H., Zhang, L., Wu, Z.: A successive transmission medium access scheme with dynamic contention window for VLC system with saturated traffic. Photonic Netw. Commun. 34(1), 63–74 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Bhutani, M., Lall, B., Dixit, A.: MAC layer performance modelling for IEEE 802.15.7 based on discrete-time Markov chain. IET Commun. J. 1–14, April (2021)

  20. Wang, Z., Liu, Y., Lin, Y., Huang, S.: Full-duplex MAC protocol based on adaptive contention window for visible light communication. J. Opt. Commun. Netw. 7, (2015)

  21. Narmanlioglu, O., Kizilirmak, R.C., Miramirkhani, F., Uysal, M.: Cooperative visible light communications with full-duplex relaying. IEEE Photonics J. 9, 3 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Lin,P., Zhang, L.: Full-Duplex RTS/CTS Aided CSMA/CA Mechanism for Visible Light Communication Network with Hidden Nodes under Saturated Traffic. IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC). pp 1–6 (2018)

  23. Ley-Bosch, C., Alonso-González, I., Sánchez-Rodríguez, D., Ramírez-Casañas, C.: Evaluation of the effects of hidden node problems in IEEE 802.15.7 uplink performance. Sensors J. 16, 1–24 (2016)

  24. Chen, Q., Han, D., Zhang, M., Ghassemlooy, Z., Boucouvalas, A.C., Zhang, Z., Li, T., Jiang, X.:Design and demonstration of a TDD-Based Central-Coordinated Resource-Reserved Multiple Access (CRMA) scheme for bidirectional VLC networking. IEEE Access J. 9, 7856–7868 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Status of IEEE 802.11 Light Communication. http://www.ieee802.org/11/Reports/tgbb_update.htm. 26 June (2020)

  26. Chowdhury, H., Katz, M.: Cooperative multi-hop connectivity performance in visible light communications. IEEE IFIP Wireless Days. 3, 3–6 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Le, N. T., Choi, S., Jang, Y.M.: Cooperative MAC protocol for LED-ID systems. IEEE International Conference on Information and Communication Technology Convergence (ICTC)., pp 144–150 (2011)

  28. Pesek, P., Zvanovec, S., Chvojka, P., Ghassemlooy, Z., Nor, N.A.M., Tabeshmehr, P.: Experimental validation of indoor relay-assisted visible light communications for a last-meter access network. Opt. Commun. 451, 319–322 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Wang, Z., Yu, H., Wang, D., Zhang, Y.: Optimized cooperative finite-alphabet two-way relaying strategy for indoor visible light communication systems. IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun. 18(10), 4886–4901 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Guo, W., Li, Q., Yu, H.Y., Liu, J.H.: A parallel transmission MAC protocol in hybrid VLC-RF network. J. Commun. 10(1), 80–85 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Mai, V. V., Thang, T. C., Pham, A. T.: CSMA/CA-based uplink MAC protocol design and analysis for hybrid VLC/WiFi networks. IEEE International Conference on Communications Workshops, (ICC). 2, pp 457–462 (2017)

  32. Zeng,M., Zhou, K., Gong, C., Lou, S., Jin, X., Xu, Z.: Design and demonstration of an indoor visible light communication network with dynamic user access and resource allocation. IEEE International Conference on Wireless Communications and Signal Processing (WCSP), pp 1–6 (2017)

  33. Aldalbahi, A., Rahaim, M., Khreishah, A., Ayyash, M., Little, T. D. C.: Visible Light Communication Module: An Open Source Extension to the ns3 Network Simulator with Real System Validation. IEEE Access. 5, 22144–22158 (2017)

  34. Naribole, S., Chen, S., Heng, E., Knightly, E.: LiRa: A WLAN Architecture for Visible Light Communication with a WiFi Uplink. 14th Annual IEEE International Conference on Sensing, Communication, and Networking (SECON). (2017)

  35. Saud, M. S., Katz, M.: Implementation of a hybrid optical-RF wireless network with fast network handover. IEEE 23rd European Wireless Conference. (2017)

  36. Rahaim, M., Little, T.: An Ultra-Dense IoT Architecture Using Hybrid CSMA with Sector Based Scheduling (CSMA/SS) via Visible Light Communications. ACM International Conference on Embedded Wireless Systems and Networks (EWSN' 17). (2017)

  37. Zeng, Z., Dehghani Soltani, M., Wang, Y., Wu, X., Haas, H.: Realistic Indoor Hybrid WiFi and OFDMA-Based LiFi Networks. IEEE Transactions on Communications. 68(5), 2978–2991 (2020)

  38. Abumarshoud, H., Alshaer, H.: Dynamic multiple access configuration in intelligent Lifi attocellular access points. IEEE Access. 7, 62126–62141 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Vats, A., Aggarwal, M., Ahuja, S.: End-to-end performance analysis of hybrid VLC-RF system using decode and forward relay in E-Health medical applications. Optik. 187, 297–310 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Wang, Y., Haas, H.: A Comparison of Load Balancing Techniques for Hybrid LiFi/RF Networks. 4th ACM Workshop on Visible Light Communication Systems (VLCS '17), pp 43–47, (2017)

  41. Zhang, W., Chen, L., Chen, X., Yu, Z., Li, Z., Wang, W.: Design and realization of indoor VLC-WiFi hybrid network. J. Commun. Inform. Netw.. 2(4), 75–87 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Bao, X., Dai, J., Zhu, X.: Visible light communications heterogeneous network (VLC-HetNet): new model and protocols for mobile scenario. Wireless Netw. 23(1), 299–309 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Adiono, T., Fuada, S., Luthfi, M., Aji Saputro, R.: MAC Layer Design for Network-Enabled Visible Light Communication Systems Compliant with IEEE 802.15.7. EAI Endorsed Transactions on Energy Web. 4, 14, (2017)

  44. Alshaer, H., Haas, H.: SDN-enabled Li-Fi/Wi-Fi wireless medium access technologies integration framework. IEEE Conference on Standards for Communications and Networking (CSCN) (2016)

  45. Pandya, R. J., Goyal, R.: Fault-Tolerant and Medium Access Control (FTMAC) protocol for IoT over VLC. In: IEEE TEQIP III Sponsored International Conference on Microwave Integrated Circuits, Photonics and Wireless Networks (IMICPW), pp 144–148 (2019)

  46. Beysens, J., Pollin, S.: Improving Blockage Robustness in VLC Networks. In: IEEE 11th International Conference on Communication Systems & Networks (COMSNETS) (2019).

  47. Tomas, B., Tsai, H. M., Boban, M.: Simulating vehicular visible light communication: Physical radio and MAC modeling. IEEE Vehicular Networking Conference (VNC), pp 222–225, (2015)

  48. Sheikh, S.M., Ali, H.R., Asif, H.M., Baig, S., Khan, A.A.: Design of NS3 VLC module and performance analysis of ad hoc network under VLC and WiFi layers. Int. J. Commun. Syst. 31(14), 1–14 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Mao, Q., Yue, P., Xu, M., Ji, Y., Cui, Z.: OCTMAC: A VLC based MAC protocol combining optical CDMA with TDMA for VANETs. In: IEEE International Conference on Computer, Information and Telecommunication Systems (CITS), pp 234–238 (2017)

  50. Arora, A., Rao, A., Bhutani, M: A matlab simulation model for MAC layer of visible light communication. In: 7th International Conference on Signal Processing and Integrated Networks (IEEE SPIN) (2020)

  51. Ullah, S., Rehman, S.U., Chong, P.H.J.: A comprehensive open-source simulation framework for LiFi communication. Sensors J. 21(7), 1–22 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

No funding was received.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Salah Esfahani & Midia Reshadi

  2. Future Technology Research Center, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, 123 University Road, Section 3, Douliou, Yunlin, 64002, Taiwan

    Amir Masoud Rahmani

  3. Department of Computer Engineering and Information Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Mehdi Dehghan

Authors
  1. Mohammad Salah Esfahani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Amir Masoud Rahmani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mehdi Dehghan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Midia Reshadi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amir Masoud Rahmani.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Esfahani, M.S., Rahmani, A.M., Dehghan, M. et al. Visible light communication networks MAC layer solutions: open issues and trends. Photon Netw Commun 43, 116–134 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11107-021-00954-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11107-021-00954-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation