Inspired by the TED talk of German professor Harald Haas, this blog sheds light (literally) on an upcoming technology; Li-Fi– the so-called successor of Wi-fi. What prospects does the technology offer and how could Li-Fi improve the safety of wireless communication?
Wireless communication has grown into a commodity like water and electricity. While the topic of ‘5G technology’ is currently receiving a lot of attention, it also contributes to an imminent problem. Our electromagnetic spectrum covering radio waves such as 5G and Wi-Fi is becoming fully exploited. You probably know stories of people living in dense cities where Wi-Fi signals interfere with each other or people having no service in their new-build homes. Moreover, radio waves are not efficient: cellular towers are inefficient and consume a lot of energy. Lastly, radio waves, e.g. in hospitals, form a threat to some medical equipment.
Li-Fi enables sending data through the form of lights – using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). By letting LED lights flash at high frequencies the human eye is not able to detect, Li-Fi can reach an optimal speed of 10 Gb per second, 100 times faster than Wi-Fi. The TED talk by professor Haas illustrates this by sending a HD video through a desk lamp. A special sensor detects the light and converts it to video. Placing your hand between the light and the sensor will stop the dataflow. Since light can’t travel through solid objects, as radio waves can, Li-Fi does not interfere other Li-Fi networks and thus has no capacity constraints and security issues.
The best part: Li-Fi does not require large investments in the transmission infrastructure since we already have 14 billion LED lights installed. On the other hand, Li-Fi technologies does require a special sensor / camera build in a device to receive, send and convert light into data. Something which is currently under development for commercial use. Another downside is that, for example, your phone in your pocket won’t receive anything.
Will the benefits of Li-FI outweigh its drawbacks? And how viable do you think Li-FI will be?
Sources:
Haas, H. (2012). Wireless data from every light bulb. Retrieved September 29, 2019, from https://www.ted.com/talks
/harald_haas_wireless_data_from_every_light_bulb/up-next.
Pure LiFi. (n.d.). LiFi Technology. Retrieved September 29, 2019, from https://purelifi.com/lifi-technology/.
Haas, H. (2018). LiFi is a paradigm-shifting 5G techno
logy. Reviews in Physics, 3, 26-31.
Copyright picture Medium(https://medium.com/acmvit/li-fi-the-future-of-internet-e573eab6bd0d)
Hi Wouter, great article!
The issue with the non-functioning connections is indeed (and unfortunately so) very common. I think this solution has a lot of potential for overcoming the problems with crowded networks of 5G and WIFI in the near future. Especially given the relatively low cost of implementation you mention, many businesses will consider it a quick and easy solution.
However, I do presume that it cannot solve all types of issues. For instance, my parent’s home has many walls. The WIFI connection is already quite terrible and we have 4 (!) routers. Imagine the cost of having to install LIFI in a house with that many walls…
Regardless, I have read some interesting applications of LIFI technology, indicating that some companies are specifically interested in LIFI. For example, retailers would like to use it to send messages about a specific product that a customer is standing in front of. If you are interested, there are more examples on this website:
(https://www.installatiejournaal.nl/verlichting/artikel/2019/03/wat-is-lifi-en-wat-zijn-de-mogelijkheden-1019422?vakmedianet-approve-cookies=1&_ga=2.121680258.829265595.1569764553-1026073043.1569764553).
Hi Joelle, thank you for your comment!
Good to hear that you recognize the problem. Using Li-Fi in your parents home shouldn’t be very expensive if your parents have already at least one LED lamp installed in every room. Then you’ll basicaly only need a router able to send and receive internet through your BPL network which almost all homes have (see https://www.explainthatstuff.com/broadbandoverpowerlines.html for more info regarding electricity and data transmission).
Also thanks for the cool examples. Businesses could indeed come up with interesting examples of triggering consumers. I think Li-Fi is on its way to be a reliable wireless data transmission standard. The only question is how long this will take.
Interesting read, Wouter! It’s good to see the potential benefits that Li-Fi can bring in contrast to Wi-Fi and 5G. However, I do find the fact that Li-Fi waves cannot travel through solid objects an important downside – what are the alternatives or solutions, if any, being researched to overcome this problem?
Hi Paula! Thanks for your comment.
Current alternatives are still making use of the radiowave electromagnetic spectrum which is getting fuller by the day. 5G will probably make use of a lower, less used, frequency to not interfere with other radiowaves. Downside of this low frequency is that it hardly penetrates solid objects.
Hi Wouter,
such as great article, I just saw it! The topic is super interesting and the world’s leading lighting firm Signify is already implementing Lifi projects. I had the honour to lead a Lifi installation project in a soccer stadium which is why I am especially interested in the technology. Its application areas are diverse and can be especially interesting for firms where security concerns are high. In this particular project we installed it in the press room though, because usually many journalists are present the data connection is really bad. With lifi this is however not the case and they benefit from uploading their news quickly.
https://www.signify.com/global/innovation/trulifi