Techno-economic study of very dense optical wireless access using visible or infrared light

Future wireless networks need to serve a high density of end-user devices with a high quality of service. The density of wireless access points and the infrastructure behind them lead to substantial cost. We study this cost impact for the particular case of optical wireless communication [also denoted as light fidelity (LiFi)] in a large manufacturing hall. We compare different LiFi network topologies using visible or infrared light. Considering aspects such as the fronthaul cabling layout, equipment investments, and installation and operational costs for energy and maintenance, different LiFi solutions are analyzed for greenfield and brownfield scenarios. The techno-economic analysis is performed in terms of total cost of ownership as well as the impact of each cost category to the final cost. Furthermore, the cost per delivered Mbps is compared to take into account the expected densification (more bits/s/m2
) and satisfy the demand for future wireless traffic. Both delivered capacity and power consumption have been identified as the two most critical parameters.