Design and assessment of a Li-Fi based home automation system: An alternative to Wi-Fi and bluetooth communication system

Abstract

This research work presents a home automation system based on Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) technology as an alternative to the RF communication systems such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Li-Fi uses visible light for transmitting signals and commands through communication channels. In this literature, the usage of several types of sensors to programmatically control home appliances incorporating Li-Fi technology is thoroughly discussed. Furthermore, a prototype is constructed to assess the feasibility of the proposed system, and a Proteus based software simulation is demonstrated in parallel to corroborate the operability of the prototype. Additionally, a Tinkercad based circuit connection diagram is illustrated for better visualization of the proposed system. The study further validates that Li-Fi offers the most affordable and secure way to create a communication channel for home automation when compared to other contemporary operational devices. A technical comparison on the Li-Fi, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth-based home automation system has also provided that emphasizes the advantages of Li-Fi over other commonly used communication technologies. Lastly, since the proposed system uses Visible Light for signal transmission, it becomes the fastest in contrast to other RF technologies now in use.