Li-Fi breakthrough
pureLiFi, the light communications technology company, announces a further Li-Fi breakthrough with news that unprecedented high speed data rates can be transmitted using light waves from ‘off-the-shelf’ LED bulbs when light fixtures are dimmed to levels that appear to be off, or when illumination is not required such as in transmissions from mobile units to an access point (uplink). This ground breaking research doubles the previous levels of data rates achieved and enables energy-efficient data transmission using LEDs.
The findings were made at the University of Edinburgh’s recently opened Li-Fi R&D centre, the first of its kind worldwide. pureLiFi is a spin-out company from University of Edinburgh and its Chief Science Officer (CSO) and co-founder, Professor Harald Haas, established the centre and is also the university’s Professor of Mobile Communications.
The latest innovation follows the successful demonstration by pureLiFi of the world’s first commercial Li-Fi product, Li-1st, during March at MWC 2014 and CeBIT 2014. pureLiFi’s Li-Fi wireless system went to market in January 2014 and continues to be in high demand from industry customers worldwide.
Professor Harald Haas said:
“It is sometimes desirable to dim lights or switch them off entirely, but usability concerns have existed around the ability to transmit data in these conditions. At the Li-Fi centre in Edinburgh, we’ve established that we can still transmit data wirelessly at data rates close to 100 per cent when lights are dimmed to levels where they appear to be switched off altogether. This is a massive breakthrough in Li-Fi, developed by way of a radically new algorithm, and is a positive indicator for the development of the Li-Fi industry as a whole.”
“This latest Li-Fi breakthrough furthers the case for Li-Fi revolutionising wireless communications, helps keep pureLiFi at the forefront of research and commercialisation and shows that Li-Fi really could be the enabler of the Internet of Everything.”
Professor Haas is a keynote speaker at BOLDtalks 2014 in Dubai on Saturday 22nd March 2014, where he will be addressing the latest developments in Li-Fi.