Visible light communication is a data communications variant which uses visible light between 400 and 800 THz. VLC is a subset of optical wireless communications technologies.
The technology uses fluorescent lamps to transmit signals at 10 kbit/s, or LEDs for up to 500 Mbit/s over short distances. Systems such as RONJA can transmit at full Ethernet speed over distances of 1–2 kilometres.
Specially designed electronic devices generally containing a photodiode receive signals from light sources, although in some cases a cell phone camera or a digital camera will be sufficient. The image sensor used in these devices is in fact an array of photodiodes and in some applications its use may be preferred over a single photodiode. Such a sensor may provide either multi-channel or a spatial awareness of multiple light sources.
VLC can be used as a communications medium for ubiquitous computing, because light-producing devices are used everywhere.