The research on optical wireless communication (OWC) has been going on for more than two decades. Particularly, visible light communication (VLC), as a means of OWC combining communication with illumination, has been regarded as a promising indoor high-speed wireless approach for short-distance access. Recently, lightwave, millimeter-wave (mmWave), terahertz (THz) and other spectrum mediums are considered as potential candidates for beyond fifth-generation/sixth-generation (B5G/6G) mobile communication networks. On the basis of previous studies, this review focuses on revealing how the research of next-generation OWC technology should be carried out to meet the requirements of B5G/6G for practical deployment. The research, development and engineering transformation of the OWC systems are a paragon of interdisciplinary. It involves a wide discussion on how to build a high-speed, multi-user, full-duplex, white-light OWC system based on existing technologies by showing the innovations and trade-offs at various levels with material, device, air-interface technology, system and network architecture. The compatibility of OWC is emphasized and some advanced heterogeneous OWC systems are presented, which involves the combination or integration of various functions such as sensing, near-infrared (NIR) beam-steering, positioning and coexistence with radio frequency (RF) communication. Finally, several potential directions are pointed out for the actual engineering deployment in the B5G/6G era.

光无线通信（OWC）的研究已经进行了二十多年。特别是可见光通信（VLC）作为OWC将通信与照明相结合的一种手段，被认为是一种很有前途的室内高速无线短距离接入方式。最近，光波、毫米波（mmWave）、太赫兹（THz）和其他频谱介质被认为是超越第五代/第六代（B5G/6G）移动通信网络的潜在候选者。在前人研究的基础上，本综述重点揭示了如何开展下一代OWC技术的研究，以满足B5G/6G实际部署的要求。OWC系统的研究、开发和工程改造是跨学科的典范。它涉及关于如何构建高速、多用户、全双工、白光OWC系统基于现有技术，展示了材料、器件、空口技术、系统和网络架构等各个层面的创新和权衡。强调了OWC的兼容性，提出了一些先进的异构OWC系统，涉及传感、近红外（NIR）波束控制、定位以及与射频（RF）通信共存等多种功能的组合或集成。最后，指出了B5G/6G时代实际工程部署的几个潜在方向。它涉及各种功能的组合或集成，例如传感、近红外 (NIR) 波束控制、定位以及与射频 (RF) 通信的共存。最后，指出了B5G/6G时代实际工程部署的几个潜在方向。它涉及各种功能的组合或集成，例如传感、近红外 (NIR) 波束控制、定位以及与射频 (RF) 通信的共存。最后，指出了B5G/6G时代实际工程部署的几个潜在方向。