Imagine a world where every light could connect you to the internet.
Lights that illuminate our offices, homes, cars and our streets also connecting us to data and powering our growing demand for connectivity.
Connectivity is evolving. The spectrum now has to accommodate more mobile users. Connected devices are forecasted increase to 20 Billion IoT devices by the year 2020. It is time to future proof our networks to enable the connectivity demands of tomorrow. With LiFi we can utilise spectrum more than 1000 times greater than the spectrum utilised for radio frequencies. LiFi is now unlocking unprecedented data and bandwidth.
LiFi is a category of Optical Wireless Communications (OWC). OWC includes infra-red and ultra-violet communications as well as visible light. However, LiFi is unique in that the same light energy used for illumination may also be used for communication.
The term LiFi was coined by pureLiFi’s CSO, Professor Harald Haas, at a TedGlobal Talk back in 2011 where he demonstrated LiFi for the first time.
LiFi can work indoors, outdoors, with the lights dimmed and is not strictly line-of-sight technology. pureLiFi’s technology is also LED agnostic which means it works with many off-the-shelf LED’s.
The way LiFi works is simple but powerful. When a constant current is applied to an LED light bulb, a constant stream of photons are emitted from the bulb which is seen as illumination. LED bulbs are semiconductor devices, which means the current, and therefore the illumination can be modulated at extremely high speeds which can be detected by the photo-detector. Using this technique allows for high-speed information can be transmitted from an LED light bulb.
Radio frequency communication requires radio circuits, antennas and complex receivers, whereas LiFi is much simpler and uses direct modulation methods similar to those used in low-cost infrared communications devices such as remote control units. LED light bulbs have high intensities and therefore can achieve very large data rates.
The inherent security advantages of using light for wireless communications allow companies to enhance security for their wireless networks significantly. The ability to strictly define the communication area of a LiFi access point allows precise partitioning of the office environment. In addition, the technology requires proprietary hardware before anyone can access the system.
Anywhere there is LED lighting infrastructure there can be a wireless LiFi communication network. That LiFi network can provide added value providing enhanced efficiency and control. Each LiFi access point (LED Light) in a LiFi network has a unique IP address allowing facility and IT managers the ability to harness the power of a small cell network.
LiFi offers an unprecedented opportunity for connectivity within hospitals and healthcare facilities. LiFi does not emit electromagnetic interference and therefore does not interfere with medical instruments, nor is it interfered with by MRI scanners.
LiFi networks for daily work, conference streaming, remote desktops along with video, can provide an enhanced user experience with the confidence of robust security. The directionality of light propagation can effectively reduce interferences in heavily populated offices. Wireless off-loading to LiFi releases spectrum for connecting other devices.
LiFi can not only provide high speed, secure and reliable wireless communications for users of transport, LiFi can also enable vehicle to vehicle communications.
LiFi can enable the realisation of truly smart cities. Street lights, building lights, and transportation lighting can all communicate wirelessly. LiFi can relieve public wireless congestion as an offloading facility for radio frequencies.
LiFi in the home will enable simple, secure, reliable and robust wireless communications. Similar to the enterprise environment LiFi can offer data aggregation and wireless offloading. Smart homes can be truly wireless, and users can intuitively understand the best coverage locations by seeing the light. No longer will home users need to worry about "man in the middle" attacks, as they can simply draw the curtains and shut their doors to secure their LiFi networks.
The applications for LiFi are limitless. Anywhere there is an LED light there can be data. LiFi is a platform technology that will extend the capabilities of wireless communications to places beyond even our current conception.
Today there are real life applications and benefits for implementing LiFi. LiFi can enable secure wireless communications, connectivity in RF hostile environments such as petrochemical plants and hospitals. LiFi also provides high speed, dense and reliable networks for enterprise environments and a pathway to enable smart buildings, transport, cities, and nations.
Light can be contained. Light cannot travel through walls, which means a LiFi signal can be secured in a physical space. pureLiFi’s technology also enables additional control as data can be directed from one device to another. Users can see where data is going.
Radio frequency technology such as Wi-Fi is vulnerable to interference from a wide range of devices such as cordless phones, microwaves and neighbouring Wi-Fi networks. LiFi signals can be defined by the area of illumination, which means interference is much simpler to avoid and even stop altogether. This also means LiFi can be used in RF hostile zones such as hospitals, power plants and aeroplanes.
Data density offers a greater user experience as it reduces the need to share the wireless bandwidth with other users. LiFi can achieve approximately 1000 times the data density of Wi-Fi offering more data per square metre. This is an important factor for wireless efficiency.
LiFi systems are fully networked, and each LiFi enabled light has it a unique IP address which means advanced geofencing can be deployed simply in a LiFi network.
LiFi allows the repurposing of light for communications as it uses the same infrastructure. LED lights are already widely efficient, and LiFi gives them another purpose, connectivity.
Any private or public lighting including street lamps can be used to provide LiFi hotspots, and the same communications infrastructure can be used to monitor and control lighting and data.
Shedding Light on LiFiIt’s impossible to avoid Wi-Fi in today’s world. It’s everywhere; your neighbours have it, it’s free in coffee shops, and essential for smartphones. We all know Wi-Fi, but what is LiFi?
Download File LiFi-XC BrochureThis is an eight-page document provides more information on the LiFi-XC. The LiFi-XC provides lightweight, highspeed secure and fully networked wireless communications via light. The LiFi-XC is a certified plug and play system that works with USB devices and is small enough to be integrated into your next laptop, tablet or smart appliance
Download File
