International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Data Communication, ISSN(p): 2320-2084, ISSN(e): 2321-2950

Volume-6, Issue-6, Jun.-2018, http://iraj.in

SERIAL AND PARALLEL DATA TRANSMISSION THROUGH LI-FI
1
ASIF JILANI SHEIKH, 2VIJAYASHREE KUDUPUDI, 3ASEEM SAYYED, 4ASHWINI DESHMUKH,
5
UDAY MITHAPELLI
1,2,3,4,5
Department of Electronics and Telecommunication, KJ’s Trinity College of Engineering and Research, Pune, India
E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
4
[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract - Light Fidelity (Li-Fi) is a new technology which focuses on communication by utilizing the visible light
spectrum. Li-Fi basically uses already available light sources like LED to transmit data, by blinking the LED. These changes
in the intensity of light are detected by a photodetector device which receives the data. Thus, illumination and
communication are achieved simultaneously. This paper presents a way for Serial and Parallel Communication of data
though Li-Fi. The text is transmitted serially by using a single LED and phototransistor. For parallel transmission, the
number of LED and phototransistor is increased. The system realized in this paper utilizes MATLAB(R2017b), Arduino
Uno, White LED for transmission of the text. At the receiver side, a phototransistor which is sensitive to visible light is used
along with Arduino Uno, MATLAB to complete the reception of the text. Li-Fi offers a completely new method of
communication, which has a potential to increase the speed of communication drastically.

Keywords - Li-Fi, Visible Light Spectrum, LED, Photodetector (L14G2), Serial Transmission, Parallel Transmission,
Arduino Uno, MATLAB(R2017b).

I. INTRODUCTION to low interference, high device bandwidths, andhigh-

intensity optical output. Moreover, it is a safe
Radio or Microwave frequencies are mostly used for technology and non-hazardous which can even be
wireless communication systems. Wi-Fi hotspots are employed in riverbeds and is cost effective. These
increasing day by day. All of these systems are pros of Li-Fi outshine it from other technologies[7].
dependent on RF spectrum for operation[1]. RF This paper is presented in such a way, which covers
spectrum is expensive, limited and a certain the basics of Li-Fi and gives an idea of the system
range.The number of mobile phone subscriber has implemented for achieving Serial and Parallel
increased at an unprecedented rate in recent years. transmission. Section I gives an introduction to a
Such an increase in the number of users, there is a reader about the fundamental idea behind Li-Fi.
crunch on the existing RF spectrum, thus affecting Section II shows the principle of operation. Section
the capacity of the electromagnetic spectrum[2]. III gives a brief idea about the components used in
Light Fidelity (Li-Fi), is a new technology that can be the system. Section IV explains the algorithm and
used as an alternative to Wi-Fi. As the network is flowchart of the operation of the system. Section V
growing continuously, congestion is also discusses the results obtained.
increasing.These reasons make it necessary to work
on a new technology which can provide service to II. WORKING OF LI-FI
millions of users, without having to worry about
capacity limitation. Li-Fi as a term was coined in The principle of operation of Li-Fi is simple but
2011 by Professor Harald Hass, during his TED powerful. By modulating the intensity of light, the
global talk event[3]. data can be transmitted using Li-Fi. Light emitting
Li-Fi is a type of Visible Light Communication diodes (LEDs) are used as a light source for
(VLC). VLC itself is a category of Optical Wireless transmission as well as illumination in Li-Fi.
Communication (OWC).These techniques facilitate
the communication, by modulating light in the visible
spectrum, which is primarily used for illumination
purposes[4].This makes Li-Fi unique, as same light is
used for communication and illumination purpose.
Thus Li-Fi can also be stated as “data through
illumination”. Visible spectrum occupies the
frequency band in between 430THz to 770THz,
which is about 400 times greater than Radio
Frequency band (1Hz to 3THz)[5]. Thus, a much
higher data rate can be achieved using VLC.
Li-Fi technology offers some advantages like it does Figure 1: Li-Fi Operation
not need any RF base stations, but it can act as a
single access point and primarily requiring unlicensed LEDs are more efficient and less costly than
services[6]. Very high data rates can be achieved due traditional fluorescent bulbs, making them a good

Serial and Parallel Data Transmission through Li-Fi

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 International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Data Communication, ISSN(p): 2320-2084, ISSN(e): 2321-2950
Volume-6, Issue-6, Jun.-2018, http://iraj.in
light source for use in Li-Fi. LEDs can blink at a 1) MATLAB: MATLAB (matrix laboratory) is a
much higher rate than human eyes can perceive, proprietary programming language developed by
which gives them another advantage for use as a light MathWorks. MATLAB allows matrix manipulations,
source in Li-Fi. A constant current applied to an LED plotting of functions and data, implementation of
bulb results in the emission of photons, which is algorithms, the creation of user interfaces, and
perceived as illumination by a human eye. The interfacing with programs written in other languages,
intensity of this light can be modulated for including C, C++, C#, Java, Fortran, and Python. We
transmission of data. This intensity modulation is are using MATLAB (version 2017b) for conversion
detected by a photodetector device such as a of data into binary format. It also provides a support
phototransistor, photodiode, etc. The light signal is package for Arduino Uno which is essential for
then demodulated into electronic form and original moving data from PC to Arduino hardware[8].
data is recovered. 2) Arduino Uno: Arduino UNO board is an open-
source electronics platform based on the
III. SYSTEM MODEL ATmega328P microcontroller and developed by
Arduino.cc. The board is equipped with sets of digital
The basic system model consists of MATLAB, and analog input/output (I/O) pins that may be
Arduino, LED, Photo-Transistor. interfaced to various expansion boards (shields) and
other circuits. It is programmable with the Arduino
IDE (Integrated Development Environment) via a
type B USB cable[9].
3) LED: The most important requirement of the LED
is its ability to turn ON and OFF in very short
intervals (in ns range). So, we use LEDs which have
very low switching time. These LEDs turn ON and
OFF in Nanosecond based on the Pulse signal. Since,
the switching taking at a faster rate, it cannot be
detected by Human eye. So, it will appear as
illuminating even though they are blinking. Thus, the
modulated data is transmitted to the receiver via
Visible Light.

B. Li-Fi Receiver
At the receiver, a phototransistor is used for detecting
Figure 2: Block diagram of Proposed Li-Fi System the light signal. The phototransistor component is
highly sensitive to light. It detects the intensity of
A. Li-Fi Transmitter light as per light intensity and a particular voltage is
The transmission is done by using MATLAB read by Arduino pin. Now this voltage is given to
(2017b), Arduino Uno and LED. Ourchannel for MATLAB and with the help of this voltage the bits
transmission ofdata is visible light. The data are retrieved andregrouped for reconstruction of the
transmission is performed using the serial transmitted data. We have used phototransistor
transmission technique and parallel transmission L14G2 for this purpose. It can sense wavelength upto
technique. We have implemented a transmission of 940nm[10].
text and image from one PC to another PC. For the
processing and manipulation of the Data (text or IV. ALGORITHM AND FLOWCHART
image) MATLAB software is used. Here the data is
changed to binary by using inbuilt MATLAB Algorithm for transmitter code is given as follows:
commands and then forwarded bit by bit to Arduino 1. Start.
Uno board. The output of PC is given to the Arduino 2. Enter the text to be transmitted.
Uno which acts as target hardware and it further 3. Conver the entered data into binary format.
transmits the data using LED. Arduinooperates the 4. Transmit Start bits.
LED as per the Input from MATLAB. There is an 5. Read the data.
appropriate delay between two consecutive bits, 6. If 1 is detected turn ON LED.
which helps to reduce the bit error and reconstruction 7. If 0 is detected turn OFF LED.
of data. When the data received from MATLAB is 1, 8. Transmit Stop bits.
LED turns ON for a particular time and transmitted
and if the 0 is received from MATLAB, LED turns Above algorithm can also be explained with help of a
OFF for a particular time and data transmission takes flowchart. The flowchart is shown in the figure3
place. A brief description of components used in below:
transmitter section is given below.

Serial and Parallel Data Transmission through Li-Fi

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 International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Data Communication, ISSN(p): 2320-2084, ISSN(e): 2321-2950
Volume-6, Issue-6, Jun.-2018, http://iraj.in

Figure 4: Flowchart of Receiver Code

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 3: Flowchart of Transmitter Code We have implemented transmission of text by serial

and parallel communication. The observations of
Similarly, an algorithm for Receiver code is given as implementation are discussed in this section.
follows: The waveforms of LED and phototransistor are
1. Start. observed on Digital Storage Oscilloscope. They are
2. Read the voltage sensed obtained at pin shown in figure :
connected to the phototransistor.
3. Check if Start bits are received.
4. Start the reception of bits.
5. Check if Stop bits are received.
6. Reconstruct the data to the original format.
7. Stop.

Flowchart for above algorithm is shown in figure 4. It

is clear, from the flowchart that the code is designed
to achieve synchronization between the transmitter
and receiver. Bit reception is started only when the
start bits are successfully received. Then after
successful reception of all bits, the data is
reconstructed in original form. Figure 5: Waveforms of LED and Phototransistor

Serial and Parallel Data Transmission through Li-Fi

44
 International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Data Communication, ISSN(p): 2320-2084, ISSN(e): 2321-2950
Volume-6, Issue-6, Jun.-2018, http://iraj.in
In above figure, channel-1 shows the waveform of Figure 7 shows the system setup of parallel
LED at the time of transmission of data. Channel-2 transmission.
shows the waveform of phototransistor L14G2 during
the reception.

A. Serial Text Transmission

For Serial transmission, single LED and
phototransistor are used. LED transmits the data bit
by bit which is received by the phototransistor and
processed for recovery.
Table 1 given below, lists the observation obtained at
the time of Serial transmission:

TABLE 1

Figure 7: Parallel Transmission of Text

CONCLUSION

We have successfully implemented a Li-Fi system

capable of transmitting data through visible light.
Data transmission by serial is successful with no bit
Figure 6 shows the system setup for serial errors. In case of parallel, the error is increased as the
transmission of text: distance is increased. A drawback of this system is
that the receiver must be in the line of sight for
successful retrieval of bits. The bit rate of the system
can be increased by varying the intensity of LED by
using PWM. Also, selection of phototransistor
sensitive to a visible light wavelength is crucial for
this system.

FUTURE SCOPE

Li-Fi technology has tremendous potential for future

applications.As per new research report by Global
Market Insights.inc, Li-Fi Market size is anticipated
to reach USD 75.5 billion by 2023. The system
discussed in this paper can further be improved to
increase the data rate and distance of transmission.
By increasing the number of LED’s, the speed of
Figure 6: Serial Transmission of Text parallel transmission can be increased. As LED’s are
used in the system, the cost of installation is low.
B. Parallel Text Transmission Also, LED’s are easily available in the market. Each
For implementing parallel transmission of text we LED can be used to create a Li-Fi hotspot just like
have two LEDs and two phototransistors for Wi-Fi. Smart home applications are being researched
transmission and reception. Table 2 shows the where Li-Fi can act as an access point for data
observations obtained at the time of implementing connectivity. Smartphones can be further integrated
parallel transmission. It is observed that as the with Li-Fi for high-speed connectivity.
distance between the LED and phototransistor is
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