LiFi- 100 Times Faster Than WiFi

LiFi or light fidelity is a high speed and fully networked wireless communication technology similar to WiFi. It uses visible light rays to transfer data and is 100 times faster than WiFi. This is because the light has the capacity to transfer vastly more amount of data in a less time compared to radio waves.

Method: The ceiling LEDs encode data from internet and decode it into light. The LED light is switched ON and OFF at a very high rate, too quick to be noticed by human eye. This process works like a binary code. This light is then received by a photon detector which converts the variation in the intensity of light into electrical charges. These electrical charges are then converted to binary data and send to computer or mobile devices.

Invention: The LiFi technology was founded by a University Professor, Herald Haas. Haas envisioned light bulbs that could act as wireless routers. Subsequently, in 2012 after four years of research, Haas set up a company called pureLiFi with the aim to be the world leader in visible light communications technology.

How does LiFi work?

LiFi technology is basically based on the idea of Solar Panel system. LiFi and WiFi are quite similar as both transmit data electromagnetically. However, WiFi uses radio waves while LiFi runs on visible light. LiFi use a photon detector to receive light signals and signal processing elements to convert the data into ‘stream-able’ content. An LED light bulb is a semi-conductor light source meaning that the constant current of electricity supplied to an LED light bulb can be modulated at very high speed without being visible to human eye. For example, data is fled into an LED light bulb with signal processing technology. It often sends data which is embedded in its beam at very high speeds to the photon detector. The tiny changes in the rapid dimming of LED bulbs are then converted by the receiver into electrical signal. The signal then converted back into a binary data stream that we could recognize as web, video and audio applications that run on internet enabled devices. The converted binary codes look like this,

Binary= ‘101101001101001’

LiFi features- benefits to the capacity, energy efficiency, safety and security of a wireless system with a number of key benefits over WiFi. But it’s worth mention that LiFi is not aiming to be direct replacement for WiFi and cellular networks, it’s a complementary technology that will work well in certain situations.

Professor Herald Haas, the person who coined the term LiFi, expect LiFi to unlock the third industrial revolution. The technology seems promising and many major key players are considering it. Microsoft is implementing the lucibel’s LiFi solution at its innovation center in France. There have been news reports that Apple is experimenting with LiFi wireless data for future iPhones and iPads.

Limitations of LiFi: LiFi is undoubtedly a promising and revolutionary invention but it also has some limitations.

·         LiFi might not be able to work smoothly in direct sunlight or harsh lighting. They might create problems in detecting the modulating light waves

·         LiFi may cover only a single room as light cannot pass the walls. If anyone is connect to the LiFi and want to move to another room, he better have another light bulb set up there.

·         Light bulb has to be on all the time, even during night.

LiFi technology does offer numerous benefits, but there are still important challenges that must be overcome before it becomes an essential part of everyday wireless communications.