What is LI-FI..???

Li-fi or light fidelity is transmission of data through illumination i.e through an LED light bulb that varies in intensity faster than human eye can follow.

In simple words li-fi is a light based wi-fi. It uses light instead of radio waves to transmit information.

H!$t0rY….

The original founder of li-fi was Prof. Harald Hass, University of Edinburgh ,U.K .

This technology truly began during 1990’s in countries like germany, korea and japan where they discovered that LEDs could be retrofitted to send information.

Present scenario

1.4 million 5 billion

Drawbacks of wi-fi

Radio spectrum is congested. The demand for wireless data is increasing rapidly every year.

The main drawbacks of wi-fi are :

-> capacity

-> availability

-> efficiency

-> security

How does li-fi work??

The data on the internet will be streamed to a lamp driver when the led is turned on, the microchip converts the digital data in form of light.

A light sensitive device (photo detector) receives the signal and converts it back into original data.

This method is technically referred as visible light communication.

Operational procedure is very simple, if the led is on, you transmit a digital 1, if its off you transmit a 0. Hence all that us required is some LEDS and a controller that code data into those LEDs.

Thus every light source will work as a hub for data transmission.

Applications

Traffic lights and flow management

In RF restricted areas for intrinsically safer environment.

In airlines

On ocean beds

In hospitals

Street lamps can be used as free access points.

Advantages of LI-FI

Ideal for high density coverage in confined regions.

It reduces our electricity and maintainance bill.

Fast data transfer. Its speed is more than 10gbps.

It provides high security and is harmless.

It is freely available

Limitations….

The main disadvantage is it cant penetrate through walls.

High installation cost of the VLC system.

Interferences from the external light sources will cause interruption in the communication.

Facts…!!!

Every light source in homes and offices could potentially be a li-fi in 20 years.

The Li-Fi industry is set to become a $6 billion industry by 2018.

Smart phones will soon be able to download traffic information from traffic lights.

conclusion

If this technology can be put into practical use, every bulb can be used something like a Wi-Fi hotspots to transmit wireless data.

Thus we can proceed towards a cleaner, greener, safer and brighter future.