Studying the Benefits of Hybrid Wi-Fi/LiFi Networks for Indoor WLANs

Light Fidelity (LiFi) is a recent wireless technology that offers high data rates, low power consumption, and does not interfere with other radio technologies, such as Wi-Fi. However, its short range and need for a direct line of sight require integration with other wireless technologies for effective use in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In this paper, we study the feasibility and efficiency of Hybrid LiFi/Wi-Fi Networks (HLWNet). Our study aims to determine whether HLWNet is a viable solution for WLANs in terms of throughput and power consumption. We propose an approach to evaluate HLWNet deployments, specifying the optimal number and placement of access points (APs) for each technology to ensure throughput satisfaction for stations (STAs) while minimizing overall network power consumption. Our numerical results indicate that the use of LiFi is not advantageous in all scenarios.