What is Li-Fi?
What is Li-Fi?
All of you are familiar with Wi-Fi which is now quite common in homes and offices. It is used for data transfer between phones, computers and internet routers. Wi-Fi used radio waves, usually in the GHz range for data transfer, while Li-Fi uses light waves for the same purpose. Li-Fi or Light Fidelity is capable of high speed data transmissions using visible light, ultraviolet and infra red regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Visible light communication works by switching the current to light emiting diodes (LED) at very high speed, beyond the ability of our eyes to notice. As light cannot penetrate walls, range will be limited to a room unlike Wi-Fi. But this is also an advantage as it can reduce hacking potential. Speeds of the order of 224 Gbit/s for Li-Fi has been demonstrated by researchers some time back.
Some of the disadvantages mentioned are interference by other sources of bright light and need for installation of devices in each room as Li-Fi cannot penetrate walls. A special advantage mentioned is the potential applications in aircrafts during flight. As it is light based, it will not interfere with radio wave based equipment on the aircraft like radars. In hospital situations like magnetic resonance imaging consoles, Li-Fi may have an advantage as it is way beyond the spectrum used for imaging.
Li-Fi enabled badges worn by staff can provide information on how well hand sanitizer has been used. This will provide a valuable clue in training staff and implementing infection control in hospitals. It is well known that hospitals would like to limit use of radio frequency whenever possible due to the potential for electromagnetic intereference with medical devices, both implantable and otherwise. It is also possible to integrate existing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and RFID infrastructure with Li-Fi with appropriate hardware.
Li-Fi has also been proposed as a way of vehicle to vehicle communication. A recent scientific paper from Bengaluru, India, reviewed the topic and demonstrated a communication system in which data sent from a transmitter to a receiver using light as a medium was used to control the speed of two motors [1]. It will be nice if this could automatically control speeds of approaching vehicles to prevent a crash! There are many more proposed applications for Li-Fi which we might see implemented in near future.
Reference
- Rahul George, Srikumar Vaidyanathan, Amandeep Singh Rajput, K Deepa. LiFi for Vehicle to Vehicle Communication – A Review. Procedia Computer Science. 2019; 165:25-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2020.01.066. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050920300740