Li-Fi is the powerful replacement in wireless technology

Image courtesy of Sam Churchill at Flickr.com

Wireless is a term used to describe telecommunications in which electromagnetic waves, rather than wires, carry the signal over part or all of the communication path. Wireless communication is among technology’s biggest contributions to mankind. The transmitted distance can be anywhere between a few meters (for example, a television’s remote control) and thousands of kilometers (for example, radio communication).

One of the popular wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections is Wi-Fi. This technology is supported by many applications and devices including video game consoles, home networks, PDAs, mobile phones, major operating systems, and other types of consumer electronics. You probably have heard of Wi-Fi, now you need to hear about Li-Fi. Still in the nascent stage, this new technology could change how you use the Internet. It’s much faster than existing Wi-Fi tech, it’s more energy efficient, and potentially more secure as well.

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Harold Haas is the biggest proponent of Li-Fi, a professor at The University of Edinburgh, and founder of the company pureLiFi, which is trying to bring the technology into real world markets. When Wi-Fi uses radio waves, by comparison, this technology is dependent entirely on light, specifically LED bulbs. In a way, it’s the next step in connected lighting. In the simplest terms, Li-Fi transfers data over light waves.

Li-Fi is a wireless optical networking technology that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for data transmission. 

Li-Fi is designed to use LED light bulbs similar to those currently in use in many energy-conscious homes and offices. However, Li-Fi bulbs are outfitted with a chip that modulates the light imperceptibly for optical data transmission. Li-Fi data is transmitted by the LED bulbs and received by photoreceptors.

You might be worried about how all that flickering in an office environment would drive you crazy, don’t worry, we’re talking LEDs that can be switched on and off at speeds imperceptible to the naked eye. And now, scientists have taken Li-Fi out of the lab for the first time, trialing it in offices and industrial environments in Tallinn, Estonia, reporting that they can achieve data transmission at 1GB per second, that's 100 times faster than current average Wi-Fi speeds. In April 2014, the Russian company Stins Coman announced the development of a Li-Fi wireless local network called BeamCaster. Their current module transfers data at 1.25 gigabytes per second but they foresee boosting speeds up to 5GB/second in the near future. In 2014 a new record was established by Sisoft (a Mexican company) that was able to transfer data at speeds of up to 10 Gbit/s across a light spectrum emitted by LED lamps.

The technology could also solve a growing problem with wireless communication systems: the radio frequency spectrum is overcrowded and we’re running out of space. The visible light spectrum is 10,000 times bigger, so Li-Fi is well placed to become the next generation of wireless communications.

Don Burns highlights some of the benefits of Li-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 (unauthorized access of a wireless LAN); eliminates neighboring network interference; unimpeded by radio interference; and does not create interference in sensitive electronics, making it better for use in environments like hospitals and aircraft.

There is always assumed to be a downside. An Estonian startup recently tested a commercial implementation of Li-Fi and found it to be superior to Wi-Fi in almost every way. The technology uses protocols, with additional standards to eliminate the impacts of interference and impacts of ambient lighting. 

Image courtesy of pinelife at Flickr.com

Despite this, however, natural light interferes with the technology, so it can’t be used outdoors (even near windows) or in other odd conditions. Visible light cannot travel through walls, an essential factor which gives old-school Wi-Fi a huge advantage. This line-of-sight limitation does make the system more secure and gives better control over emissions, but it is unclear what the minimum distance for signal reception would be if clear line-of-sight is achieved. With that in mind, it is easy to imagine the signal being intercepted by someone with a telephoto lens and an optical sensor tuned appropriately. While Li-Fi was touted as a possible channel for wireless communications on airplanes, widespread adoption of onboard Wi-Fi on most American airlines makes this use case less and less pertinent.

For the time being, all this downsides lead to think that there is one place to use Li-Fi in its current iteration, and it is one cold dark room filled with LED lights. We need to wait for more information and advances regarding this powerful replacement in wireless technology.

Interested in more groundbreaking telecommunication technology? Read about Microsoft Hololens