White illumination light emitting diode (LED) has the characteristics of energy efficiencies,reliability,long lifetimes,lower cost and high- speed modulation.LED can be used not only as illumination,but also simultaneously as the source of visible light communication (VLC).Due to the advantages such as energy saving,no electromagnet interference,high communication speed and accuracy position,visible light communication has wide application prospects.It is a hot research topic in optical communication field.The VLC potential applications and achievements in indoor positioning navigation,intelligent transport system,high speed communication,airport and underwater areas are reviewed,and some of the challenges and it′s development direction in the future are also discussed.