Li-Fi Vs Wi-Fi

WiFi may soon be a thing of past. A new technology, Light Fidelity or LiFi looks ready to change the face of communications sooner than we know. LiFi is a light-based communication technology, which makes use of light waves instead of radio technology to deliver data. It uses common household LED (light emitting diodes) light bulbs to enable data transfer, boasting speeds of up to 224 gigabits per second.

LiFi which falls into the category of Optical Wireless Communications (OWC) is a Visible Light Communications (VLC) system. This technology is unique to the same visible light energy used for lighting is used for communication. The data will be transferred with LiFi by modulating the energy of the light, which is then received by a photo-sensitive detector, and the light signal is demodulated into an electronic design. This intonation is implemented in a way that it is not tangible to the human eye.

Although Li-Fi LEDs would have to be kept on to transmit data, they could be dimmed to below human visibility while still emitting enough light to carry data.

The idea of "Wireless data from every light" was introduced by Professor Harald Haas, the University of Edinburgh in the UK, who also coined the term "Li-Fi". He later set up a company PureLiFi with the aim 'to be the world leader in Visible Light Communications technology'.

LiFi vs WiFi

While some may think that Li-Fi with its 224 gigabits per second leaves Wi-Fi in the dust, Li-Fi's exclusive use of visible light could be its downfall.

Li-Fi signals cannot pass through walls, so in order to enjoy full connectivity, capable LED bulbs will need to be placed throughout the home. Not to mention, Li-Fi requires the lights on at all times to provide connectivity, even during the day.

However with its shorter range, Li-Fi is more secure than Wi-Fi and it's reported that embedded light beams reflected off a surface could still achieve 70 megabits per second.

Using light to deliver wireless internet will also allow connectivity in environments that do not currently readily support Wi-Fi, such as aircraft cabins, hospitals and hazardous environments like nuclear power plants. Light is already used for data transmission in fibre optic cables and for point to point links, but Li-Fi is a special and novel combination of technologies that allow it to be universally adopted for mobile ultra high-speed internet communications.

Li-Fi is presently being developed into a universal systems technology, consisting of application specific sequences of light transmitters, light receivers including solar cells, efficient computational algorithms and networking capabilities that can be deployed in a wide range of communication scenarios and in a variety of device platforms