Li-Fi (Light Fidelity)
Li-Fi is a new wireless technology that transmits high-speed
data using light (i.e. Visible
Light Communication or
VLC) rather than radio bands.
The term was coined by German physicist Herald Haas during
a TED Talk when he outlined the idea of using light
bulbs as wireless routers. That address was delivered four years ago,
and many people speculated that, like a lot of apparent revolutionary
breakthroughs, Li-Fi would go the way of other "next big things" and
not come to fruition. A year after his TED Talk, though, Haas, a professor of
mobile communications at the University of Edinburgh, created pure LiFi with
a group of people who had been researching the technology since 2008. The
company has claimed to be the "recognized leaders in Li-Fi
technology" and has already produced two products.
Just as you thought 4G or
5G LTE would finish off Wi-Fi once and for all, Li-Fi appears on the scene
to rock its status.
Wi-Fi has been great but
it's already being outdone in 5G tests and now on a more local scale Li-Fi is
100 times faster, and more secure.
Li-Fi uses light to
transmit data rather than Wi-Fi's radiowaves. Although this was still in the
testing phases not long ago it's already set to reach the public.
So how can Li-Fi be so
fast and is it really the death of Wi-Fi.
Li-Fi uses light for
faster transmission
By using visible light to
transmit data Li-Fi is able to increase bandwidth by 100 times. This equates to
downloading 18 movies at 1.5GB each, in a single second.
Lab tests revealed that
the Li-Fi connection could transmit up to 224 gigbits per second. Now in real
world use scientists have reportedly managed to hit a whopping 1GB per second
of data transmission.
This was first discovered in 2011 at the University of Edinburgh by Harold Haas. He showed that flickering the light from an LED could transmit more data than a cellular tower.
The current iteration uses
Visible Light Communication (VLC) which is light between 400 and 800 terahertz.
It's a bit like switching a light on and off for Morse code, or more
accurately, to send the ones and zeros of binary bits.
Li-Fi technology is a
ground-breaking light-based communication technology, which makes use of light
waves instead of radio technology to deliver data. Li-Fi technology will
in future enable faster, more reliable internet connections, even when the demand
for data usage has outgrown the available supply from existing technologies
such as 4G, LTE and Wi-Fi. It will not replace these technologies, but will
work seamlessly alongside them.
Using light to deliver
wireless internet will also allow connectivity in environments that do not
currently readily support Wi-Fi, such as aircraft cabins, hospitals and
hazardous environments.
Light is already used for data transmission in fibre-optic
cables and for point to point links, but Li-Fi is a special and novel combination
of technologies that allow it to be universally adopted for mobile ultra high
speed internet communications
Benefits of LiFi:
· Higher speeds than Wi-Fi.
· Higher speeds than Wi-Fi.
·
10000 times the frequency spectrum of radio.
·
More secure because data cannot be intercepted without a clear
line of sight.
·
Prevents piggybacking.
·
Eliminates neighboring network interference.
·
Unimpeded by radio interference.
·
Does not create interference in sensitive electronics, making it
better for use in environments like hospitals and aircraft.
·
LEDs and different technology, researchers have enabled 10 gigabits-per-second (Gbps), which is faster than 802.11ad.
By using LiFi in all the lights in and around a
building, the technology could enable greater area of coverage than a
single WiFi router. Drawbacks to the technology include the need for a clear
line of sight, difficulties with mobility and the requirement that lights stay
on for operation.
LiFi is designed to use
LED light bulbs similar to those currently in use in many energy-conscious
homes and offices. However, LiFi bulbs are outfitted with a chip that modulates the light imperceptibly
for optical data transmission. LiFi data is transmitted by the LED bulbs and
received by photoreceptors.
EmoticonEmoticon