Dr Abderrahmen Trichili – University of Oxford

Dr Trichili investigates where light fits in within the wireless communication future. Indoor optical wireless communications (OWC), popularly known as Light Fidelity (LiFi) when visible wavelengths are used, is a license-free technology that has seen tremendous progress over the last decade. LiFi/OWC can offer Terabits per second wireless connectivity and augment the capacity of radio frequency (RF) wireless systems such as WiFi. Together, a combination of RF systems, which can provide reliable coverage and moderate capacity, and OWC systems which provide ultra-high capacity and much-needed additional wireless spectrum. This is a potentially attractive method for implementing future wireless communication systems. The critical problem for conventional optical wireless (LiFi/OWC) is understanding how secure it is. This requires both measurement and more detailed channel modelling than is currently undertaken. The analysis of LiFi security has used relatively simplistic channel models with limited or no measurements to back these up. This question is also restrictive, as light has attributes that RF wireless does not, which might add additional security.

Dr Trichili's current work addresses the key questions of:

• How secure is optical wireless communication? Even though visible light signals are restricted to users in a particular location covered by a luminaire, these signals can be intercepted from door keyholes, windows, ventilation grills, or possibly by a hidden adversary in the same room as the source of light.
• How best to integrate these features with conventional RF systems, addressed through architectural studies?

His work combines modelling and conducting experiments to answer these research questions. The expected findings of my project will contribute to advancing the academic understanding of the VLC field by identifying how secure LiFi is, and how we can improve it. Boosting the security of conventional wireless communication systems will be through identifying a potential architecture of future wireless communication for 6G and beyond, harnessing light to increase communication capacity and strengthen overall security.