Li-Fi is a new method of delivering data. It uses the visible spectrum rather than radio
waves. For the firt time, this new breakthrough technology has been tested in a working office.
The Li-Fi system uses standard light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to transmit electronic data
signals, which will enable users to access the internet through the ordinary lighting
systems in schools, workplaces and homes. This revolutionary invention has the potential
to bring cheap, energy efficient and super-secure wireless access to the world.
Li-Fi is a wireless technology that transmits high-speed data using visible light communication
(VLC).
With scientists achieving speeds of 224 gigabits per second in the lab using Li-Fi earlier
this year, the potential for this technology to change everything about the way we use
the Internet is huge.
And now, scientists have taken Li-Fi out of the lab for the first time, trialling it in
offices and industrial environments in Tallinn, Estonia, reporting that they can achieve data
transmission at 1 GB per second - that's 100 times faster than current average Wi-Fi speeds.
The technology uses Visible Light Communication (VLC), a medium that uses visible light between
400 and 800 terahertz (THz). It works basically like an incredibly advanced form of Morse
code - just like switching a torch on and off according to a certain pattern can relay
a secret message, flicking an LED on and off at extreme speeds can be used to write and
transmit things in binary code.
The flickering of light will not disturb us, because our eyes won't notice the fast flickering.
The most significant advantage is the speed that the technology offers. Researchers have
achieved speeds of 224 gigabits per second in lab conditions.
Because light cannot pass through walls, Li-Fi is lot more secure, and , this also means
there's less interference between devices.
While Li-Fi will probably not completely replace Wi-Fi in the coming decades, the two technologies
could be used together to achieve more efficient and secure networks.
Our homes, offices, and industry buildings have already been fitted with infrastructure
to provide Wi-Fi, and ripping all of this out to replace it with Li-Fi technology isn’t
particularly feasible, so the idea is to retrofit the devices we have right now to work with
Li-Fi technology.
Before mass adoption of Li-Fi can be realised, techniques need to be developed to retrofit
current devices with the technology.
The inventor of Li-Fi, Professor Harald Haas from the University of Edinburgh, has previously
claimed that in the future every LED lightbulb could be used as an ultra-fast alternative
to Wi-Fi. In a TED talk describing the technology, Haas said that current infrastructure was
suitable for the integration of Li-Fi.
According to him, All we need to do is fit a small microchip to every potential illumination
device and this would then combine two basic functionalities: illumination and wireless
data transmission.
In the future we will not only have 14 billion light bulbs, we may have 14 billion Li-Fis
deployed worldwide for a cleaner, greener and even brighter future.
The Estonia Startup Velmennis is providing a Smart LED bulb named as Jugnu.
Jugnu is the next generation of smart LED bulbs that can transfer data through visible
light.