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Li-Fi technology uses LED bulbs to transmit data packets at very high speed. Here’s how it works and where you can use it
There are plenty of wireless communication standards, each of them has features and functionality tailored to a specific purpose. There are those for long range communication (such as 4G LTE), those for medium range (WI-FI) and those for short range (such as Bluetooth).
All the ones we use today (and we will be using in the near future, such as 5G) use radio waves, of varying lengths and frequencies, to allow users to exchange voice and data packets. However, in time, it may be possible to use light pulses to create wireless networks even in large, closed spaces. Or at least that’s what the creators of Li-Fi technology (short for Light Fidelity), a system that uses ordinary LED bulbs instead of the radio spectrum band, hope for. After years of testing and trial, it seems that the technology is ready for large-scale use.
What is Li-Fi
As mentioned, this is a technology that uses LED bulbs that emit high-frequency light pulses, making them able to replace radio waves. The principle of operation is essentially the same as that of optical fibers, but Li-Fi is designed for wireless connections and uses “regular” LED bulbs, while the former are designed for wired connections and use laser pulses to send data packets.
How Li-Fi Works
From a purely theoretical point of view, Li-Fi can work in ultraviolet, infrared and visible light spectrum. However, the spectrum of visible light is so wide (10,000 times the entire radio spectrum) that companies and scientists have focused on developing a wireless communication protocol using LED bulbs.
Basically, the Li-Fi network operation is quite simple. The light bulbs in the network emit light pulses of very high frequency so that the human eye does not notice any difference and the visual system is not “disturbed” by this behavior. At the same time, however, “invisible” pulses send data packets to compliant devices.
These devices, equipped with special photoreceptors, receive a light signal, “interpret” it and send data packets using a light source (eg LED flash in a smartphone camera). The packet exchange is managed by a special chip which must be implemented in the light bulbs that will form the wireless “light” network.
Advantages of Li-Fi
The way it is designed and can be configured, Li-Fi offers significant advantages over Wi-Fi. First, it can be implemented as part of a standard lighting system, without the need for additional wiring and at low cost. It can also handle more devices, providing much faster connection speeds than Wi-Fi. In laboratory tests, Li-Fi achieved speeds of 223 gigabits per second, while the current Wi-Fi standard is just over 1 gigabit. Li-Fi is also resistant to electromagnetic interference and can be used in environments where Wi-Fi can cause interference with other technologies that use the same data band.
What is Li-Fi for
Li-Fi is designed for indoor use to maximize its performance. For example, it can become a viable alternative to Wi-Fi in offices, where it would be enough to replace the bulbs used with standard-compliant LEDs to have a fast, ultra-wideband wireless network. Its features, however, also make it suitable for use in a smart home where it can easily manage communication between different devices in the home.
